Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., blasted President Donald Trump on Sunday for his decision to fire Inspector 18 Friday night and accused the president of violating the law.

"To call out this clear violation of the law, to say, 'OK,' technically, he broke the law. Yes, he broke the law," Schiff told NBC News' "Meet the Press."

His comments came in response to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Improper Termination from the Inspector General.

"I'm not, you know, losing a lot of sleep that he wants to replace. I just want to make sure he gets off to a good start," Graham added.

Graham offered a stronger defense of Trump in a later CNN interview, saying, "Yeah, I think he should do that."

"He felt like the government was not working very well for the American people. These watchdog people were doing a really bad job. He wanted to have some fresh eyes on Washington. That made sense to me," he added.

However, Schiff pushed back on that notion, warning: "If we don't have good and independent inspector generals, we're going to see the swamp replenished."

He added: "That may be the president's goal here ... to remove anyone who will draw public attention to his malfeasance."

Inspectors general serve as independent figures at federal agencies who conduct audits and investigate agencies when there are allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.

On Friday, Trump fired at least 18 inspectors, including the inspectors general at the Departments of Defense, State, Health and Human Services and Labor.

On Saturday, multiple lawmakers (on both sides of the aisle) noted that Trump's move appeared to violate the law, which requires the president to provide Congress with 30 days' notice and substantive reasoning for a shooting before a general can vacate his post.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told NBC News in a statement Saturday that he would "like further explanation" from President Trump regarding his response to the shooting. reason.

"There may be good cause for dismissal. If so, we need to know that. I would like to explain further to President Trump. Regardless, 30 days of detailed notice of dismissal, that is, does not provide Congress with the legal requirement." Grassley explain.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted Trump's decision in a speech on the Senate floor Saturday morning.

"Yesterday, in a dark moment, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals at critical federal agencies across the government. It was a chilling purge," Schumer said.

He added: "These firings may violate federal law, which requires Congress to give 30 days' notice of any intent to fire inspectors."

On Saturday, a White House official told NBC News that many firing decisions occur while "looking at their legal counsel." But they added that they were in contact with the White House counsel's office, although they did not believe the administration had broken any laws.

It's unclear how Congress will address this apparent violation of the law, but on Sunday, Schiff said: "We have the power of the wallet. We now have the authority to confirm or unconfirm people to be in control of agencies or to be in control of agencies that have just been fired cabinet position."

So far, all but Trump's Cabinet appointments have sailed through the Senate with the support of the Senate Republican caucus, which holds a 53-47 majority in that chamber. Only one nominee - new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth - lost three votes in his final confirmation vote, although he was defeated by Vice President J.D. Vance's tiebreaking vote rate won a majority.