Trump's removal of inspectors general is particularly egregious, and he's now done it almost weekly in the last six weeks.

The Friday night sackings of government watchdogs have become a key part of the Trump narrative.

Three weeks ago, the president announced a replacement for the acting inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, Christi Grimm.

Also on May 15, the president sidelined the acting inspector general of the Transportation Department, Mitch Behm, who was reported to have been investigating Secretary Elaine Chao for possible favoritism to projects in Kentucky, the state represented in the Senate by her husband, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The actions followed April's firing of Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, who notified Congress about the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that ultimately resulted in Trump's impeachment.

Trump also sidelined Glenn Fine, then the acting inspector general of the Defense Department, who had been selected by his peers in the IGs' community to oversee the handling of trillions of dollars in pandemic relief; the president replaced him with a loyalist.

Trump has left many inspector general positions vacant, to be filled, instead, by acting officials, who have less independence and can be replaced more easily, and he has treated reports from these watchdogs as attacks rather than guides for improving government performance.

The president and his attorney general have already used the law enforcement powers of the United States to protect the president's friends and allies against the judgement of career prosecutors.

This attorney general, ever eager to use his authority to bolster the president politically, has already launched new investigations into the origins of the Russia investigation despite repeated findings by courts and watchdogs that the investigation had a proper basis?

The president has shown his hand, his closest allies have spoken and the crackdowns on democratic checks and balances have intensified.