The Education Department’s top internal watchdog could soon be an employee who was, until a few months ago, a middle school principal who had never worked directly in the federal government.
Trump notified Congress last Monday of his plans to designate David DeArmas as acting inspector general starting in 30 days. DeArmas has been chief of staff in the inspector general’s office since July.
Before that, DeArmas was the middle school principal at Fredericksburg Christian School, a private school in Virginia, and he previously was the school’s athletic director and football coach.
Trump’s selection to be the department’s permanent IG, Mark Priebe, also has a connection to the school. Priebe has been the varsity golf coach at Fredericksburg Christian School since 2018, according to his biography on the Education Department’s website. DeArmas joined the school in 2019.
Trending
Priebe was a career employee in the department’s IG office before the president made him acting IG in December. But Priebe had to step aside from the role as the Senate considers his nomination, and he is now a senior adviser in the Agriculture Department’s inspector general office.
In his letter to Congress, Trump called DeArmas “the best available person” to serve in the acting IG role.
DeArmas has never worked directly in the federal government but has experience in government contract consulting, according to his Linkedin. When announcing his addition to the office in note to staff in July, inspector general office leadership emphasized DeArmas’ consulting experience and said he led “numerous large-scale IT implementations across the federal government.”
René Rocque, who, as the Education Department’s deputy inspector general, automatically filled the vacancy when Priebe left, can better serve the nation in that deputy IG role, Trump told lawmakers. Rocque has worked in the Education Department’s IG office since 2023 and has two decades of experience in IG offices across other agencies.
While agency IGs are typically nonpartisan auditors, Government Executive previously reported that Priebe has posted in support of Trump and his allies on social media. Priebe’s X account has since been deleted, but archived posts show that prior to his elevation to acting IG, he repeatedly asked White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller for a role in the administration.
Priebe’s son interned in the office of Education Secretary Linda McMahon this summer, according to internal records reviewed by The Washington Sun.
Rocque previously stepped in during Trump’s first week in office when he fired Sandra Bruce, the Senate-confirmed IG, along with nearly 20 other inspectors general. When DeArmas steps into his new role, it will mark the sixth change to the top Education watchdog since Trump took office.
The Trump administration has reimagined the role of the agency since the president’s mass firing of IGs across the federal government. Trump replaced some of those he dismissed with individuals with direct ties to him and his administration and has frequently sought to break down barriers between agency and auditor erected through statute in the wake of Watergate.
An Education IG employee said their colleagues have begun to see their work as being politicized, and the constant rotation of leadership has only strengthened that belief.
“I don’t think anyone at the agency knows the real reason why, but it’s created instability and just makes things feel chaotic,” the employee said about frequent leadership turnover.
The employee also called DeArmas’ selection “a big joke”.
“It’s hard to take seriously, and nobody understands why [Rocque] is an issue,” the employee said.
When asked for comment, the Education IG’s office referred The Washington Sun to the White House. The White House referred The Sun to the Education Department. The department referred The Sun to the White House.
Authors
Contributor
