Warren, Van Hollen, Kim Call for Export-Import Bank Officials to Push Back on President Trump’s Firing of Bank’s Independent Inspector General
“Salehi’s firing undermines the independence and effectiveness of both the EXIM’s Office of Inspector General (EXIM OIG) and the EXIM Bank at-large.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) sent a letter to John Jovanovic, President & Chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), and Bryce McFerran, First Vice President nominee & Acting Chief Banking Officer of EXIM, calling for the Bank officials to publicly call on President Trump to reverse his decision to remove the independent, Senate-confirmed EXIM Inspector General (IG) Parisa Salehi without cause. The letter comes in light of Jovanovic’s previous commitments to support an independent EXIM IG and McFerran’s pending nomination to be the Bank’s second-highest-ranking official.
“The EXIM IG serves to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the Bank’s programs and works to prevent waste, fraud and abuse,” wrote the Senators. “Salehi’s firing undermines the independence and effectiveness of both the EXIM’s Office of Inspector General (EXIM OIG) and the EXIM Bank at-large.”
The Senators criticized President Trump for firing Salehi in violation of the procedures required under the Inspector General Act: “Under this statute, the President must provide written notice ‘to both houses of Congress (including the appropriate congressional committees), not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.’ In addition to notice, the President must provide a ‘substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons’ for the removal. As of the date of this letter, Congress has yet to receive such notice.”
They continued: “Ms. Salehi’s removal now provides an opportunity for Mr. Jovanovic to act in support of commitments he made during his Senate confirmation process. During that process, Ranking Member Warren asked whether he ‘support(ed) having a Senate-confirmed, independent Inspector General at EXIM,’ to which Mr. Jovanovic responded that he ‘believe(ed) in the importance of an independent Inspector General at every government agency, especially EXIM.’”
The Senators concluded by requesting individual answers from Jovanovic and McFerran to questions on Salehi’s removal no later than November 5, 2025.
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