Trump Has Illegally Impounded Funds for 4th Time in Recent Weeks
This is one of those situations which creates a “what are you going to do about it” scenario. Trump administration is violating a federal law that prevents the executive branch from holding back funds approved by Congress. In reality. what can Congress do? Any attempt by the executive branch to withhold appropriated funds outside the specific conditions laid out in the ICA is against the law. What can Congress do to force the president and other agencies to follow the law?
So far it appears to be a standoff and Congress has little authority to force the president other than jawbone.
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Government Watchdog Finds Trump Has Illegally Impounded Funding for 4th Time in Recent Weeks
GAO finds Trump illegally impounded funding for K-12 schools across America to make energy efficiency upgrades—lowering schools’ costs and upgrading students’ classrooms
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on another Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision announced this morning, which concludes that President Trump has {in violation of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA)} illegally impounded funding provided by Congress for the Renew America’s Schools program. A program which was created on a bipartisan basis in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:
In its decision, GAO also highlighted how the Trump administration’s decision to pull down a public website detailing its spending decisions inhibited its ability to conduct its investigation. Such decisions add more evidence that claims by this administration of a commitment to radical transparency are a farce. And yet another reminder of the importance the website is restored, as the law requires and a court recently required the administration to do.
The GAO concluded:
The GAO has now acknowledged that it has opened 46 impoundment investigations and counting.
Today’s announcement follows:
- The GAO’s first decision in May in one of its ongoing investigations, which concluded Trump is illegally impounding funding for electric vehicle charging;
- Its subsequent investigation in June concluding Trump is illegally impounding funding for museums and libraries across America; and
- Its recent July investigation finding Trump illegally impounded Head Start funding.
The ICA authorizes the Comptroller General to file suit when the president illegally impounds funding.
Since his first hours in office, President Trump has illegally blocked funding owed to communities across the country through a variety of different means. Senate and House Appropriations Committee Democrats have been tracking Trump’s illegal funding freeze and found that, as of June 3, President Trump is blocking at least $425 billion in funding owed to the American people.
Minority News Release | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations