Senate prepares to confront Trump's attacks on independent watchdogs

A hearing on President Donald Trump’s pick to police his administration’s massive coronavirus economic rescue effort is poised Tuesday to offer a window into Trump’s broader campaign to dismantle independent oversight of his administration.

Brian Miller, the White House counsel aide whom Trump has tapped as the newly created “special inspector general for pandemic response,” pledged to be an independent watchdog, free of political influence, in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. If confirmed, he would oversee a $500-billion fund managed by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve meant to shore up companies and industries ravaged amid the coronavirus crisis.