The nonpartisan #GovernmentAccountability Office has issued 2 rulings that #funds have been illegally withheld already, & congressional #Democrats have said a far wider scope of #funding freezes has broken the #budget #law. Although the #Trump admin denies any funds have been “impounded" so far, ofcls at 6 agencies expressed alarm to WaPo over how the disbursement of funds has slowed, stopped or been delayed—often w/o #legal justification.
Deadlines in the coming weeks will clarify how much the admin…[will break] the #law, enacted in 1974 after President Richard M. #Nixon’s #Watergate scandal. White House ofcls are planning to “defer” ~200 separate accounts across the #FederalGovernment, acc/to 2 people familiar w/the matter….These delays, which would affect billions of dollars at a wide range of US agencies,…would be illegal if they prevent the #funds from being spent before the fiscal year end on Sept 30, the people said.
#Trump
Interviews w/ #FederalWorkers show that a wide spectrum of govt #spending has already been stalled. Major #scientific #research #grants have already been terminated without public notice in recent weeks. At one #FederalAgency, staff were told — via a directive that took effect on a Sunday — that almost all contracts over $250k no longer could be signed.
At the #GSA, which manages federal #RealEstate, the #Trump admin is trying to cut costs by rejecting many agencies’ requests for facilities #repairs paid for by those agencies. In some instances, ofcls say it’s unclear whether the #budget #law has been violated already or is merely on track to be breached — but the rejections have provoked internal alarm about their legality either way.
The admin still *could* disburse money for many stalled programs before the end of the fiscal year. Rachel Cauley, a spox for the #OMB, said in a stmnt that while they have not happened thus far, “impoundments remain an option at the president’s disposal.”
Though billionaire #ElonMusk’s #DOGE drew significant attention for its speedy cuts, #RussVought, #Trump’s budget director [& one of #Project2025’s architects], is expected to be key to the coming fight over spending.
#RussVought has spearheaded the admin’s campaign to assert sweeping #ExecutivePower over #spending, arguing that the Impoundment Control Act, the #law at issue now, is *unconstitutional*.
The #Trump admin has *justified* its cost-cutting measures by pointing out that the #US is $36 trillion in debt, although the type of #funding that ofcls have targeted represents a small fraction of the overall #budget.
[& Trump’s budget outline is projected to increase the debt by trillions more]
“We are seeing multiple major, major violations of the #budget #law,” said G. William Hoagland, who served as a #GOP aide to the #Senate Budget Cmte & is now at the Washington-based Bipartisan #Policy Center. “I think this is on its way to becoming a really big issue. This is going to blow up more than the administration can imagine.” The frozen spending is most visible in the #research community, where #science & #health funding has ground to a halt with little public explanation.
@Nonilex “Money Grab” barbarians are inside the gates, accomplices in control of Congress and SCOTUS.