"The situation is Kafkaesque"

On 23 May 2025, René L. Rocque, the Department of Education's acting inspector general, sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. She wrote:

"Over the last 6 weeks the OIG has experienced unreasonable denials and repeated delays from the Department in providing the OIG access to documents, staff, and information. These denials and delays prevent the OIG from discharging our statutory mission to oversee the Department’s programs and operations under the Inspector General Act (IG Act), 5 U.S.C. section 401 et seq."

Section 402:

"Establishment and purpose of Offices of Inspector General

(b) Purpose....

(2) to provide leadership and coordination and recommend policies for activities designed— (A) to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of those programs and operations; and

(B) to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in those programs and operations."

On 5 June, Trump wrote to Congress: "I intend to designate Heidi Semann ... as Acting Inspector General of the Department of Education, in place of the current Acting Inspector General, Rene Rocque.... Ms. Rocque can better serve the Nation performing other duties (i.e., returning to her position as Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Education)."

Trump added that "Ms. Semann is the best available person to serve as Acting Inspector General of the Department of Education at this time."

Why was Semann "the best," or at least better than Roque? At the time — June '25 — she was a "senior special agent," Office of the Inspector General for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

15 July 2025, the Associated Press: "The [CFP] bureau has been mostly inoperable for nearly six months. CFPB employees say they essentially spend the workday sitting on their hands, forbidden from doing any work.... The situation is Kafkaesque."

And so it is at Ms. Semann's new home. Its website, today:

First listed:

There is no listing of Heidi Semann acting as inspector general of the department, which is going the way of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

But there is this at the Ed Department:

NYT: "Trump has fired or demoted more than 20 inspectors general or acting inspectors general since he took office six months ago.... In the 2024 fiscal year alone, the inspectors general fired by Mr. Trump identified more than $50 billion in waste and abuse....

"A report written by Senate Democrats detailed how the fired inspectors general had produced more government savings than Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency."

Not to worry. At the Labor Department, for instance, Trump has nominated former NY Republican congressman Anthony D’Esposito to be its inspector general.

Anthony is a former cop with the NYPD, where he was "known for flashing his gun around" and being "reckless"; stole jewelry from a suspect, a "corruption case"; left his NYPD-issued firearm in a car, from which it was stolen, and for which Anthony was found by the NYPD to be incredibly guilty of "failing to safeguard" it; and lied about another suspect "living in a house containing illegal weapons," which cost the city a quarter-million dollars in a lawsuit.

While a one-term congressman — rather, the reason he was a one-term congressman — is that the Times reported that Anthony "had added a woman with whom he was having an affair to his office’s payroll and employed his longtime fiancée’s daughter as special assistant."

And next he'll be an inspector general at Labor, where he'll "prevent and detect fraud and abuse." Right?

Perhaps we should ask Franz.

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