Seems to me that there are three separate issues here...

1. Can he fire the IG? Yes, he serves at the President's pleasure...but the IG can't be fired for improper reasons.

2. Was there sufficient reason to fire the IG? Yes, and the support for that comes from two Republican lawyers, one of whom is also a Bush appointee. Political reasons or not, there's plenty of support to fire him if the Prez isn't pleased with his performance.

3. Should the 30 day rule apply? Seems like it should to me, but violating it doesn't all of a sudden make the firing illegal, nor does it make Walpin all of a sudden invulnerable to being fired. I looked up the law and couldn't find anywhere in it a remedy for its violation. Violating the 30 day rule doesn't make the firing a "political" act, and more to the point, virtually everything that politicians do are "political acts" in some way or another.

I think the proper way to handle this would be to put him back on the payroll, put him on administrative leave for 30 days, notify Congress that he's being let go, pay him for the 30 days, and send him packing.

That's what should have been done in the first place, and this whole thing could have been avoided...and should be done right now.

Fish on...

Todd