Meng Calls Out Trump Admin’s Lack of Transparency on Spending, Demands Agencies Follow Law
Full-year continuing resolution (CR) requires each agency to submit a detailed spend plan showing how they are implementing fiscal year 2025 appropriations. However, nearly four months after enactment of the Appropriations Act, many agencies have yet to submit legally compliant plans.
Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY-06), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the House Appropriations Committee sent letters to the leaders of the Department of Commerce, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Science Foundation, calling out the administration’s unacceptable failure to submit detailed spend plans for each agency to the Appropriations Committees, as required by law.
Federal agencies are legally required to provide more granular details about how they are spending taxpayer dollars each fiscal year. These spend plans are critical to determine if Agency spending aligns with the law. However, as Meng writes, these agencies have failed to submit adequate and legally compliant spend plans to Congress, nearly four months following the enactment of the Appropriations Act.
In addition, in the case of NASA, Meng pointed out that the “failure…to comply with the law raises concerns about [NASA’s] intentions with respect to certain missions—particularly those in the Science Mission Directorate…” and that “[t]he absence of a spend plan also appears to be an attempt to avoid the question of whether NASA may seek large-scale reductions in force, beyond the multiple early retirement options provided to employees, as proposed in the [fiscal year 2026] budget request.” Meng further noted that at a NASA employee “town hall” meeting last week, the Acting NASA Administrator’s chief of staff was quoted as saying “If we were to wait for all of the congressional process to unfold and get to final resolution to make any movements or do anything, it would probably be considered irresponsible.” As Meng emphasized in her letter, “Such a statement is itself irresponsible, and should be clarified immediately.”
The full letters are available HERE.