Non-Partisan Watchdog Once Again Finds Trump Administration Violated the Law

WASHINGTON – Today, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued multiple decisions reaffirming Congress’s constitutional power of the purse and concluding that the President cannot unilaterally withhold appropriated funds. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement on these decisions:

“While President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought threaten ‘big surprises coming up in a few weeks,’ the non-partisan GAO has once again determined that the Trump administration is breaking the law. Today’s decisions offer a reminder that the President does not have the authority to unilaterally steal money promised to communities across the country. 

“While families struggle with the high cost of living, the Trump administration is determined to make it more expensive for hardworking people to get by. Today’s decision on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is another example of the Administration trying to dismantle an agency whose mission is to fund research to improve maternal and child health, telehealth, and patient safety in hospitals and health clinics. The Trump administration is so determined to strip health care resources away from Americans that they are willing to break the law to do it. 

“In their decision on the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants Program (ECJ Program), GAO not only found that these grants – mandated by law – must be awarded, but also that when people are promised that money it must be delivered in a timely fashion. 

“These are not just examples of the Trump Administration violating Congress’s Constitutional powers. This is evidence of their attacks on science and hardworking, middle-class families.”

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