The window frames a dark Quad where streetlights cast pools of yellow on empty paths. Late Friday evening and he's still here, reworking next week's lecture on the Beer Hall Putsch. Elena texted an hour ago:
Elena: When are you coming home?
David: Soon
Elena: When are you coming home?
David: Soon
A lie he told himself as much as her.
The lecture notes blur together. He closes his laptop, surrendering to the end of the week.
His phone buzzes as he's locking his office door. Then again. And again.
The screen lights up with notifications:
Breaking News: Trump fires at least 17 inspectors general
NY Times Alert: White House dismisses IGs via email without congressional notice
Washington Post: Mass IG firings raise questions of legality
Breaking News: Trump fires at least 17 inspectors general
NY Times Alert: White House dismisses IGs via email without congressional notice
Washington Post: Mass IG firings raise questions of legality
David stops in the hallway, briefcase in hand. Opens the Times article.
In an unprecedented Friday night purge, the Trump administration terminated at least 17 inspectors general across federal agencies, sending termination notices via email from White House Director of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor. The firings, which cite "changing priorities," violate the Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 requiring 30 days' notice to Congress.
Among those dismissed: Phyllis Fong (Agriculture IG since 2002), Robert Storch (Defense), Christi Grimm (HHS), Michael "Hannibal" Ware (SBA, CIGIE chair), and Mark Greenblatt (Interior). Seventeen total.
In an unprecedented Friday night purge, the Trump administration terminated at least 17 inspectors general across federal agencies, sending termination notices via email from White House Director of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor. The firings, which cite "changing priorities," violate the Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 requiring 30 days' notice to Congress.
Among those dismissed: Phyllis Fong (Agriculture IG since 2002), Robert Storch (Defense), Christi Grimm (HHS), Michael "Hannibal" Ware (SBA, CIGIE chair), and Mark Greenblatt (Interior). Seventeen total.
He leans against the wall. Scrolls. Fong—twenty-three years, four administrations. Storch—unanimous Senate confirmation. These aren't political appointees.
His phone buzzes again—The Portal notifications.
He opens the app—he'd told himself he'd only check it once a day. The HIST 412 Study Group chat is exploding with new messages.
nisha_d:
@everyone 17 IGs fired. Friday night emails. This is literally what we're studying
jake_m:
it's standard turnover. presidents realign oversight when priorities change—elections have consequences.
nisha_d:
no they don't! these are supposed to be independent! This is exactly like when Hitler purged the civil service!
jake_m:
oh here we go with the hitler comparisons 🙄
marcus_w:
Actually Jake, Hitler's April 1933 Professional Civil Service Law removed political opponents and Jews from civil service. The justification was "coordination" and "loyalty." I'm just noting the parallel.
michael_l:
should we be discussing this here? this is supposed to be a study group
nisha_d:
we're studying totalitarianism while it's happening. why WOULDN'T we discuss it?
sarah_k:
i'm uncomfortable with this conversation. feels too political
nisha_d:
EVERYTHING is political! Pretending it's not is a privilege!
jake_m:
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
nisha_d:
I haven't used that word once. I'm pointing out DOCUMENTED PARALLELS to what we're literally studying in this class
nisha_d:
@everyone 17 IGs fired. Friday night emails. This is literally what we're studying
@everyone 17 IGs fired. Friday night emails. This is literally what we're studying
jake_m:
it's standard turnover. presidents realign oversight when priorities change—elections have consequences.
it's standard turnover. presidents realign oversight when priorities change—elections have consequences.
nisha_d:
no they don't! these are supposed to be independent! This is exactly like when Hitler purged the civil service!
no they don't! these are supposed to be independent! This is exactly like when Hitler purged the civil service!
jake_m:
oh here we go with the hitler comparisons 🙄
oh here we go with the hitler comparisons 🙄
marcus_w:
Actually Jake, Hitler's April 1933 Professional Civil Service Law removed political opponents and Jews from civil service. The justification was "coordination" and "loyalty." I'm just noting the parallel.
Actually Jake, Hitler's April 1933 Professional Civil Service Law removed political opponents and Jews from civil service. The justification was "coordination" and "loyalty." I'm just noting the parallel.
michael_l:
should we be discussing this here? this is supposed to be a study group
should we be discussing this here? this is supposed to be a study group
nisha_d:
we're studying totalitarianism while it's happening. why WOULDN'T we discuss it?
we're studying totalitarianism while it's happening. why WOULDN'T we discuss it?
sarah_k:
i'm uncomfortable with this conversation. feels too political
i'm uncomfortable with this conversation. feels too political
nisha_d:
EVERYTHING is political! Pretending it's not is a privilege!
EVERYTHING is political! Pretending it's not is a privilege!
jake_m:
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
nisha_d:
I haven't used that word once. I'm pointing out DOCUMENTED PARALLELS to what we're literally studying in this class
I haven't used that word once. I'm pointing out DOCUMENTED PARALLELS to what we're literally studying in this class
David stares at the screen. The hallway is empty, fluorescent lights humming overhead. His thumb hovers over the text box.
marcus_w:
@ProfBrenner since we're discussing the civil service, should we do the Professional Civil Service Law reading before Wednesday? Seems relevant.
marcus_w:
@ProfBrenner since we're discussing the civil service, should we do the Professional Civil Service Law reading before Wednesday? Seems relevant.
@ProfBrenner since we're discussing the civil service, should we do the Professional Civil Service Law reading before Wednesday? Seems relevant.
The tag lights up in red. They're asking him directly.
David closes the app without responding.
The drive home takes twenty minutes through empty streets. By the time he reaches his house—Elena's car already in the driveway, meaning she must have left the coalition meeting early—his phone has collected another dozen notifications. He ignores them all.
He finds her in the living room, laptop balanced on her knees, phone pressed to her ear. She holds up one finger: Wait.
"—No, Miguel, tienes que decirle ahora," Elena says in Spanish. "Antes de que llegue ICE. SĂ, ya sĂ© que da miedo. Por eso necesita saber." Pause. "Está bien. Llámame despuĂ©s. Te quiero."
"—No, Miguel, tienes que decirle ahora," Elena says in Spanish. "Antes de que llegue ICE. SĂ, ya sĂ© que da miedo. Por eso necesita saber." Pause. "Está bien. Llámame despuĂ©s. Te quiero."
She ends the call and looks at David. "One of my father's employees. Undocumented, been here twenty years, three kids who are citizens. ICE has been doing workplace raids again."
"I saw," he says, setting down his briefcase. "The news said—"
"The news doesn't tell half of it." Elena closes her laptop. "Do you understand what Executive Order 14165 means? 'Securing Our Borders'—they rescinded the sensitive locations policy. Churches, David. Schools. Hospitals. ICE can now operate anywhere. My clients are terrified to send their kids to school, terrified to go to church. One woman canceled a cancer treatment appointment because the hospital isn't safe anymore."
David sinks onto the couch beside her. "I know. I read about it."
"Reading about it." Her jaw tightens. "Yeah."
The silence stretches. On the TV, muted, CNN shows images of federal buildings, closed captioning scrolling past. David's phone buzzes. He ignores it.
"Did you see about the inspectors general?" Elena asks.
"Yeah."
"And?"
"And what?"
"What do you think?"
David chooses his words carefully. "It's concerning. The law requires congressional notice. Firing them all at once, on a Friday night—it's clearly designed to minimize accountability."
"Concerning." Elena repeats the word like she's tasting something bitter. "Seventeen career officials fired via email for insufficient loyalty, and you think it's concerning."
"Elena—"
"Do you know what I think?" She's not looking at him now, staring at the TV instead. "I think we're watching it happen in real time, and people like you—smart people, people who study this—are going to keep finding academic reasons not to say what's obvious."
"It's not the same—"
"Why not?" She turns to face him now, jaw set, eyes bright. "Tell me exactly why it's not the same. Use your historian voice."
David's mouth opens. Closes. He thinks about the Professional Civil Service Law lecture he's giving Wednesday. About the purge of the Prussian civil service in 1933. About Gleichschaltung —coordination— that euphemism for nazification.
"The contexts are different," he finally says. "Hitler had the Reichstag Fire as a pretext. He suspended civil liberties. We still have courts, Congress, elections—"
"Courts that he's packing. Congress that won't check him. Elections he's already claiming will be rigged if he loses." Elena stands, picking up her laptop. "You know what, never mind. I'm going to bed."
"Elena—"
"I'm tired, David. I'm tired of arguing with you. I'm tired of watching you know better and do nothing."
She leaves. The latch catches with a soft click—somehow worse than a slam.
David sits frozen on the couch. The words he didn't say pile up in his throat.
I have tenure to protect. The provost's memo about "partisan statements" wasn't subtle. One complaint from a parent, one viral video of me comparing Trump to Hitler, and I'm the professor who politicized his classroom. They'll use it to justify anything—denial of sabbatical, removal from committee assignments, a target on my back until they find cause.
We need this job. The mortgage. Your father's medical bills we help with. The security.
And I am doing something. I'm teaching them to think critically. To recognize patterns. That's how you change minds—not by shouting from a podium, but by giving them the tools to see it themselves. Jake is listening. Marcus is building his thesis. Even Sarah is starting to ask the right questions.
But you want me to be a martyr. To sacrifice everything we've built so I can make a dramatic stand that changes nothing except our bank account and my career.
I can't lose you over this. If I push now, if we keep fighting like this, one of us will say something we can't take back. Better to let it rest. Better to keep teaching, keep being careful, keep us together.
The thoughts feel hollow even as he thinks them.
At least it's their bedroom tonight, David thinks. Not the guest room. He never knows which anymore.
The living room. Blue TV light across his face. The Portal notifications piling up. He doesn't check them.
On CNN, a chyron scrolls past:
Breaking: 17 Inspectors General Fired Without Congressional Notice. Democrats Call It "Authoritarian Purge."
Breaking: 17 Inspectors General Fired Without Congressional Notice. Democrats Call It "Authoritarian Purge."
He picks up his laptop and opens it. He searches his lecture notes and finds it:
The Professional Civil Service Law (Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums) - April 7, 1933
"Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service"
First major legislation after the Enabling Act. Removed Jews and political opponents from civil service positions. Justified as necessary "coordination" (Gleichschaltung) to ensure government loyalty to new regime.
Key provisions:
Officials of "non-Aryan descent" dismissed
Those with "questionable" political reliability dismissed
SA/SS veterans given preferential hiring
Impact: Within months, thousands of career civil servants fired. Replaced with Nazi loyalists. Institutional knowledge lost. Bureaucracy transformed from neutral administrator to instrument of party policy.
The Professional Civil Service Law (Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums) - April 7, 1933
"Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service"
First major legislation after the Enabling Act. Removed Jews and political opponents from civil service positions. Justified as necessary "coordination" (Gleichschaltung) to ensure government loyalty to new regime.
Key provisions:
Impact: Within months, thousands of career civil servants fired. Replaced with Nazi loyalists. Institutional knowledge lost. Bureaucracy transformed from neutral administrator to instrument of party policy.
David reads his own words. Then reads them again.
He closes the laptop without changing anything.
Saturday morning arrives gray and cold. David wakes at 6:30 AM to find Elena's side of the bed empty. A note on her pillow:
Meeting at 9. Don't wait up.
Meeting at 9. Don't wait up.
He makes coffee. Sits at the kitchen table with his laptop. Prepping lectures—that's what he tells himself.
By 8:30, he's spiraled deep. Browser tabs multiply: NYT coverage, the 2022 Inspector General Independence Act, comparative analyses of IG systems. Research as avoidance.
The U.S. IG system was created after Watergate—designed specifically to prevent political interference with oversight. IGs are appointed by the president but serve independently, investigating waste, fraud, and abuse within their agencies. They report to Congress as well as agency heads. They can only be fired "for cause"—and even then, the president must give Congress 30 days' notice explaining the reasons.
The 2022 law strengthened these protections after Trump's first term, when he'd fired several IGs—including the Intelligence Community Inspector General who forwarded the Ukraine whistleblower complaint. Congress passed it with bipartisan support specifically to prevent exactly what happened Friday night.
David opens a new document. Starts taking notes.
Phyllis Fong—Agriculture IG since 2002. Twenty-three years, unanimous confirmation. Michael "Hannibal" Ware—SBA chair of the Council of IGs, Senate-confirmed with no opposition. Robert Storch at Defense investigating Pentagon contracts. Christi Grimm at HHS, career civil servant who raised concerns about COVID supply chains in 2020.
These aren't political opponents.
He pulls up his Hitler lecture notes. The section on the Professional Civil Service Law:
The law was presented as necessary "coordination" to restore efficiency after years of political chaos. Career officials were removed not for corruption or incompetence, but for insufficient alignment with the new regime's vision.
The law was presented as necessary "coordination" to restore efficiency after years of political chaos. Career officials were removed not for corruption or incompetence, but for insufficient alignment with the new regime's vision.
He stares at the screen.
His phone buzzes. Forty-seven unread The Portal messages now in the HIST 412 channel. He's been ignoring them all morning.
He opens the app.
Saturday afternoon, and The Portal erupts. The HIST 412 Study Group's general chat begins to explode with messages—Billy James's account suddenly active, seventeen students suddenly talking at once.
system:
billy_j joined the Class Portal
jake_m:
hey Billy, welcome to the chat
billy_j:
hey billy here. just got added. saw the news about the IGs. whats everyone freaking out about
jake_m:
look i'm just saying maybe these IGs were actually corrupt? has anyone considered that? we had inflation, border failures—oversight didn't fix any of it.
billy_j:
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
nisha_d:
ALL 17 of them? Fired on a Friday night? Jake come on
jake_m:
you liberals just hate that we finally have a president with the guts to drain the swamp. accountability should come from voters, not career staff who think they outrank elections.
marcus_w:
I'm curious about your definition of "the swamp." These were career civil servants with bipartisan confirmation. The "swamp" metaphor assumes career expertise is somehow corrupt. That's a premise worth examining.
jake_m:
swamp = people in D.C. who never leave and act like elections are a nuisance. if they can slow-walk everything, voters never actually get the change they chose.
jake_m:
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
nisha_d:
I STILL haven't used that word. I'm pointing out that mass firing of oversight officials is historically a warning sign of authoritarian consolidation. That's literally what we study in this class.
amir_h:
my parents left Palestine because of this. the regime firing everyone who might question them. it starts with "efficiency" and "loyalty" and ends with no one left to say no
jake_m:
this is America not Palestine. we have the Constitution
amir_h:
Constitutions matter because they protect people, not leaders. If firings chill oversight, rights get theoretical.
marcus_w:
Egypt had a constitution too. So did Weimar Germany. Constitutions are only as strong as the people willing to defend them.
jake_m:
so we're just supposed to let bureaucrats who weren't elected by anyone block everything the president wants to do? He WON. He has a mandate
nisha_d:
winning an election doesn't give you the right to fire oversight officials. That's literally the point of having independent IGs—they're not supposed to be loyal to the president
jake_m:
maybe if they'd done their jobs during Biden's term they wouldn't have been fired. the border crisis, inflation, crime—where were all these wonderful IGs then?
billy_j:
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
marcus_w:
The IGs issued reports during Biden's administration. Also during Trump 1.0. That's their job—oversight of all administrations.
billy_j:
yeah but they only attacked republicans. that's the swamp
nisha_d:
That's just not true Billy. IGs are career officials. They report waste and fraud regardless of party.
billy_j:
that's not what i see. media totally protects democrats. IGs did too
amir_h:
Have you actually read any of the IG reports? They're publicly available.
billy_j:
no but i know how it works. the whole system is rigged against regular people like us. trump is the only one fighting for regular americans
system:
billy_j joined the Class Portal
billy_j joined the Class Portal
jake_m:
hey Billy, welcome to the chat
hey Billy, welcome to the chat
billy_j:
hey billy here. just got added. saw the news about the IGs. whats everyone freaking out about
hey billy here. just got added. saw the news about the IGs. whats everyone freaking out about
jake_m:
look i'm just saying maybe these IGs were actually corrupt? has anyone considered that? we had inflation, border failures—oversight didn't fix any of it.
look i'm just saying maybe these IGs were actually corrupt? has anyone considered that? we had inflation, border failures—oversight didn't fix any of it.
billy_j:
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
nisha_d:
ALL 17 of them? Fired on a Friday night? Jake come on
ALL 17 of them? Fired on a Friday night? Jake come on
jake_m:
you liberals just hate that we finally have a president with the guts to drain the swamp. accountability should come from voters, not career staff who think they outrank elections.
you liberals just hate that we finally have a president with the guts to drain the swamp. accountability should come from voters, not career staff who think they outrank elections.
marcus_w:
I'm curious about your definition of "the swamp." These were career civil servants with bipartisan confirmation. The "swamp" metaphor assumes career expertise is somehow corrupt. That's a premise worth examining.
I'm curious about your definition of "the swamp." These were career civil servants with bipartisan confirmation. The "swamp" metaphor assumes career expertise is somehow corrupt. That's a premise worth examining.
jake_m:
swamp = people in D.C. who never leave and act like elections are a nuisance. if they can slow-walk everything, voters never actually get the change they chose.
swamp = people in D.C. who never leave and act like elections are a nuisance. if they can slow-walk everything, voters never actually get the change they chose.
jake_m:
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
see this is why nobody takes you seriously Nisha. you just call everything you don't like fascism
nisha_d:
I STILL haven't used that word. I'm pointing out that mass firing of oversight officials is historically a warning sign of authoritarian consolidation. That's literally what we study in this class.
I STILL haven't used that word. I'm pointing out that mass firing of oversight officials is historically a warning sign of authoritarian consolidation. That's literally what we study in this class.
amir_h:
my parents left Palestine because of this. the regime firing everyone who might question them. it starts with "efficiency" and "loyalty" and ends with no one left to say no
my parents left Palestine because of this. the regime firing everyone who might question them. it starts with "efficiency" and "loyalty" and ends with no one left to say no
jake_m:
this is America not Palestine. we have the Constitution
this is America not Palestine. we have the Constitution
amir_h:
Constitutions matter because they protect people, not leaders. If firings chill oversight, rights get theoretical.
Constitutions matter because they protect people, not leaders. If firings chill oversight, rights get theoretical.
marcus_w:
Egypt had a constitution too. So did Weimar Germany. Constitutions are only as strong as the people willing to defend them.
Egypt had a constitution too. So did Weimar Germany. Constitutions are only as strong as the people willing to defend them.
jake_m:
so we're just supposed to let bureaucrats who weren't elected by anyone block everything the president wants to do? He WON. He has a mandate
so we're just supposed to let bureaucrats who weren't elected by anyone block everything the president wants to do? He WON. He has a mandate
nisha_d:
winning an election doesn't give you the right to fire oversight officials. That's literally the point of having independent IGs—they're not supposed to be loyal to the president
winning an election doesn't give you the right to fire oversight officials. That's literally the point of having independent IGs—they're not supposed to be loyal to the president
jake_m:
maybe if they'd done their jobs during Biden's term they wouldn't have been fired. the border crisis, inflation, crime—where were all these wonderful IGs then?
maybe if they'd done their jobs during Biden's term they wouldn't have been fired. the border crisis, inflation, crime—where were all these wonderful IGs then?
billy_j:
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
exactly. the IGs let biden destroy this country. now finally we have someone who wont accept failure
marcus_w:
The IGs issued reports during Biden's administration. Also during Trump 1.0. That's their job—oversight of all administrations.
The IGs issued reports during Biden's administration. Also during Trump 1.0. That's their job—oversight of all administrations.
billy_j:
yeah but they only attacked republicans. that's the swamp
yeah but they only attacked republicans. that's the swamp
nisha_d:
That's just not true Billy. IGs are career officials. They report waste and fraud regardless of party.
That's just not true Billy. IGs are career officials. They report waste and fraud regardless of party.
billy_j:
that's not what i see. media totally protects democrats. IGs did too
that's not what i see. media totally protects democrats. IGs did too
amir_h:
Have you actually read any of the IG reports? They're publicly available.
Have you actually read any of the IG reports? They're publicly available.
billy_j:
no but i know how it works. the whole system is rigged against regular people like us. trump is the only one fighting for regular americans
no but i know how it works. the whole system is rigged against regular people like us. trump is the only one fighting for regular americans
David stares at the screen. Jake gets it—Billy watched Millerton's factory close while officials promised oversight, watched the hospital shut down while regulators said everything was fine. Of course he doesn't trust reports. But does Jake understand he's enabling that distrust by legitimizing it?
marcus_w:
Regular Americans depend on oversight working properly. Firing IGs who investigate waste doesn't help working people—it makes it easier to misuse taxpayer money.
billy_j:
better than what biden was doing. at least trump cares about our communities
michael_l:
can we please get back to discussing the actual coursework?
nisha_d:
THIS IS THE COURSEWORK. We're literally watching the mechanisms we study in class play out in real time. How can we not discuss it?
sarah_k:
I just think Dr. Brenner wouldn't want us making everything political
nisha_d:
@ProfBrenner what do you think?
marcus_w:
Regular Americans depend on oversight working properly. Firing IGs who investigate waste doesn't help working people—it makes it easier to misuse taxpayer money.
Regular Americans depend on oversight working properly. Firing IGs who investigate waste doesn't help working people—it makes it easier to misuse taxpayer money.
billy_j:
better than what biden was doing. at least trump cares about our communities
better than what biden was doing. at least trump cares about our communities
michael_l:
can we please get back to discussing the actual coursework?
can we please get back to discussing the actual coursework?
nisha_d:
THIS IS THE COURSEWORK. We're literally watching the mechanisms we study in class play out in real time. How can we not discuss it?
THIS IS THE COURSEWORK. We're literally watching the mechanisms we study in class play out in real time. How can we not discuss it?
sarah_k:
I just think Dr. Brenner wouldn't want us making everything political
I just think Dr. Brenner wouldn't want us making everything political
nisha_d:
@ProfBrenner what do you think?
@ProfBrenner what do you think?
David stares at the tag. He's been reading this exchange for fifteen minutes, watching it escalate. Seventeen students are officially enrolled in this Class Portal. How many are lurking, reading without commenting? What do they think of his silence?
His thumb hovers over the text box.
He closes The Portal without posting anything.
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