The Government Accountability Office said Thursday that the Transportation Department’s pause on funding for a Biden administration electric vehicle charging program is illegal under the 1974 law restricting a president’s ability to block or “impound” money appropriated by Congress.
The determination is the GAO’s first slap on the Trump administration’s wrist for its impoundment of congressionally approved funds. The decision supports Democrats’ view that the administration’s funding freezes across a host of agencies is illegal under the 1974 law, known as the Impoundment Control Act.
Top Democrats on the House and Senate Budget committees had asked for the GAO’s opinion, and the agency said it is reviewing other potential impoundments.
“An appropriations act is a law like any other; therefore, unless Congress has enacted a law providing otherwise, the President must take care to ensure that appropriations are prudently obligated during their period of availability,” the GAO report stated. “DOT is not authorized under the ICA to withhold these funds from expenditure.”
The administration and Republicans say the freezes are necessary to review the funds for waste, fraud and abuse.
Senate Appropriations Democrats say the Trump administration illegally froze $430 billion in funding as of April 29.
“This legal decision affirms what we’ve long known: the president is breaking the law to block funding Congress passed on a bipartisan basis and that is owed to the American people — simply because he disagrees with it,” Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “This plain fact is unacceptable — and it cannot stand any longer.”
The GAO is a nonpartisan adviser to Congress, and its decisions are not legally binding on the administration. However, under the 1974 law, the agency has authority to sue for release of the funds.
The agency specifically reviewed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s action to suspend funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant program, a formula grant program that received $5 billion in advanced funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
The department’s February memo rescinded all previous guidance for the program and required states to submit new plans. The memo barred the department from obligating new funding until the new guidance and plans were approved. Existing project agreements, however, were unaffected.
Republicans, including those who voted for the funding in the 2021 infrastructure law, praised Duffy for the move and criticized the Biden administration for taking too long to roll out the funds.
The GAO said the Transportation Department isn’t authorized under the 1974 law to withhold the NEVI program funds and said it “must continue to carry out the statutory requirements of the program.” It added that the department must instead propose funds for rescission or propose legislation to make changes to the law if it wants to withhold the funding.
A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that “GAO’s opinion is incorrect. The Department of Transportation is appropriately using the authority granted to them by statute to review the state plans.”
A spokesperson for the DOT said the GAO’s “conclusion conflicts with Congress’ intent, and completely misunderstands the Federal-aid highway program and how Congress structured the NEVI program. In cherry-picking language in the program statute, GAO’s assessment is also at odds with its own reports on how Federal-aid Highway programs similar to NEVI receive and use appropriated funds.
“We’re reviewing the updating the NEVI program guidance because the implementation of NEVI has failed miserably, and DOT will continue to work in good faith to update the program so it can be utilized more efficiently and effectively,” the spokesperson said.
The GAO also found that between fiscal years 2022 and 2025 the Transportation Department didn’t meet requirements of the statute when it failed to record its obligation. It recommended that DOT adjust its accounts for those years to reflect the requirements.
“This is not complicated: Congress passed, and the President signed into law, billions in investments in critical infrastructure, including $5 billion for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, which goes to every State in the country,” House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement. “It should be obvious that the American people did not elect President Trump to steal from them, but today the Comptroller General reminded him of exactly that.”
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