The independent agency embedded within the legislative branch that is designed to review federal spending and make recommendations to Congress on cost savings and waste, as well as investigate policy implementation (the real one, not DOGE), has released a new finding that none of us will find surprising.
As part of its 39 different investigations into various actions the Trump administration has taken in the last four months that could qualify as Impoundment Control Act violations, the Government Accountability Office determined this afternoon that the Trump administration has, in fact, done just that.
The congressional watchdog found that the Department of Transportation illegally withheld funds when it paused a Biden-era initiative to expand charging stations for electric vehicles across the nation in February. The $5 billion initiative was originally put in motion by the Transportation Department as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, an element of the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress under President Biden.
Trump’s Transportation Department, however, froze the $5 billion in funding to the project as part of DOGE’s rampage through the executive branch. The DOT has claimed that it placed a pause on the funds while it writes new rules for how to disperse the grant money.
The Office of Government Accountability was not persuaded by the Trump administration’s argument and said that if the new administration wants to make funding changes to the EV charging station program, it needs to — you guessed it — send Congress a rescission package. Or suggest new legislation for Congress to consider. Here’s the exact language from the GAO ruling:
DOT is not authorized to withhold these funds from expenditure and DOT must continue to carry out the statutory requirements of the program. While DOT cannot withhold these funds under the ICA, DOT could propose funds for rescission or otherwise propose legislation to make changes to the NEVI Formula Program for consideration by Congress.
You can read a more detailed breakdown of the findings here.
Big picture, the non-partisan congressional watchdog is expected to issue more rulings in coming months as it works its way through nearly 40 other similar investigations into whether the Trump administration has violated the 51-year-old law in other ways. The Trump White House has already called the GAO finding “wrong” and GAO opinions are, in general, considered nonbinding recommendations to Congress. Such a finding might matter more in an era where congressional Republicans were not already so willing to choke down all of Trump’s DOGE cuts.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) put out a compelling statement in response to the ruling saying it “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.”
Harvard Is Still Figuring Out How To Respond
By now, you’ve seen the news: the Trump administration is attempting to end Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, which make up almost a third of the student population at the university that has thus far not given into Trump’s attempts to bend it to his will. The school gave the Times the following statement:
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university — and this nation — immeasurably,” said Jason Newton, the university’s director of media relations. “We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”
It’s Thune’s Turn
President Donald Trump is urging the Senate to act on the House-passed reconciliation package “as soon as possible.” House Republicans narrowly passed their bill — that includes massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP — early this morning after weeks of intraparty fighting that culminated in a Trump intervention this week.
But the “big, beautiful bill” is expected to face major challenges in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is reportedly privately meeting with senators who are against the package’s sweeping cuts to Medicaid. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has been very vocal about his opposition to cuts to the social safety net program for weeks. And the Hill is reporting that a group of five to seven Republican senators are concerned about the Medicaid reforms included in the House’s reconciliation package.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has already said he is a “no” on the bill in its current form, as it does not do enough to address the deficit. Senate Republican leadership is considering taking the House’s package and chopping it up into pieces to make it easier to pass.
One thing is certain: the problems that plagued the bill’s passage in the House aren’t going anywhere. And there will be changes to the bill’s text once the upper chamber gets its hands on it.
— Emine Yücel
In Case You Missed It
New from Kate Riga: Supreme Court Kills The Independent Agency. Trump Is King
And a scoop from Josh Kovensky: An Outspoken Christian Nationalist Pastor Expands His Sway In Trump’s DC
House Passes Trump’s Reconciliation Bill After Shoving In Larger Medicaid Cuts At Last Minute
Federal Judge Calls Out Trump DOJ’s Targeting Of Political Rivals In Real Time
Welcome To The White Christian Nationalist Presidency
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Judge Finds DHS Violated Court Order In Sudden South Sudan Removal Scheme
What We Are Reading
Democratic Hill staffer is a contestant on next season of ‘Survivor’
I feel obliged to post the customary cat photo, though this is one I might have used before.
Impeach the Republican Party!
In other words, the Republican House is proposing a budget to make everything worse. Cuts. No talk of what they will build.
Biden built infrastructure. Biden created jobs. Biden made America competitive. I thought Trump was supposed to be some kind of construction mogul.
Time for hubby and I to apply for Canadian citizenship. We found out that Canada already considers us to be Canadians since each of us has a parent born in Canada. Probably won’t move there but it is an escape we might have to use.
Everyday is worse than the last.
You might look into immigrating to Belize as I did. It’s also a member of the British Commonwealth and Belize is very welcoming to both American and Canadian citizens with many perks. And there are many Canadians down here, some as part time snowbirds and some as full time permanent residents.Having mailbox money of some sort helps as work visas are very hard to come by, the government of Belize is dedicated to providing jobs for it’s citizens over jobs for immigrants. Actually commendable the way its practiced.
Long ago Spanky fat cat and Murphy dog would see us to bed. They are gone now. We miss them.