White House on Friday told the government’s top watchdog it will only cooperate when doing so does not impede its ability to carry out President Trump’s agenda, reigniting a feud that traces back to the president’s first term in office.
The letter, from Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta to the Government Accountability Office, follows the watchdog last week finding the Trump administration violated federal spending laws by withholding money appropriated by Congress. Paoletta denied that the administration has flouted the Impoundment Control Act, the law that prohibits the executive branch from withholding congressionally appropriated funds for policy reasons.
The OMB official criticized GAO for asking too many questions of the White House, including the dozens of probes the watchdog has opened into potential illegal impoundments. Paoletta noted that GAO has around 50 “open engagements” with the budget office.
“Not only does GAO exceed its statutory authority when it unhelpfully injects itself into an agency’s implementation of a program, GAO also hampers the Executive Branch’s ability to carry out its statutory mandates,” Paoletta said in the letter, which was first reported by The Washington Post. He added the legislative branch agency often attempts to substitute its “policy views for those of the president.”
He called GAO’s requests "voluminous, burdensome and inappropriately invasive,” suggesting the approach was “unsustainable.” Paoletta equated GAO’s investigative work to an “invasion by an arm of Congress” into the internal deliberations of the executive branch.
“In light of these concerns, OMB will continue to cooperate with GAO engagements but will do so in a manner that ensures that the burdens of such engagements do not unduly impede OMB’s ability to implement the President’s agenda and comply with OMB’s other legal duties,” Paoletta said.
Posted by John3262005