ANKARA

The Trump administration is pulling funding from the Council of Inspectors General, a federal watchdog group that helps oversee government waste and misconduct, effective Wednesday, according to media reports.

The council, known as the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), provides training, data analysis, and investigative tools to federal oversight employees, and removing its funding could cripple inspectors general, leaving them without shared infrastructure to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse, according to reports.

The council, an independent entity within the executive branch, is tasked with addressing “integrity, economy, and effectiveness issues that transcend individual government agencies,” according to its website.

A notice on its website reads: “Due to a lack of apportionment of funds, this website is currently unavailable.”

A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget told CBS News that inspector generals had become “corrupt, partisan, and, in some cases, have lied to the public,” adding: "The American people will no longer be funding this corruption."

Former CIGIE chair Mark Greenblatt, in a separate statement, warned the cuts would leave inspectors “isolated” and “severely compromised.”

Mike Ware, former inspector general for the Small Business Administration, said the move would dismantle critical transparency platforms.

The decision has drawn rare bipartisan criticism. Republican senators Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins wrote in a letter cited by CBS News that the move would force CIGIE to furlough staff and shut down oversight programs. They demanded that the administration explain its decision and reverse course by Friday.

"We urgently request an explanation for these actions and ask that you promptly reverse course," they said.