GAO: In line with our precedent, a RIF to achieve savings does not run afoul of the ICA as long as any net savings generated from the RIF are offset by other allowable expenses. Image: DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GAO has now found a total of four violations by the of the Impoundment Control Act—the latest controversy over the Trump administration refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress—although it meanwhile notably has found that conducting a RIF is not in itself a violation.
The latest GAO finding of a violation—in its role as an overseer of that law—involved withholding of funds for an Energy Department program for efficient energy improvements in schools. That followed similar findings regarding programs for electric vehicle charging facilities, museums and libraries, and the Head Start program.
“Presidents do not wield the power to unilaterally withhold or block investments that have been enacted into law through “impoundment.” This foundational principle has been affirmed time and again,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
GAO however said that RIFs ordered by DHS to eliminate most positions in three of its offices—the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman—did not violate the law because the department “is continuing to obligate and expend the funding provided to the offices.”
“In line with our precedent, a RIF to achieve savings does not run afoul of the ICA as long as any net savings generated from the RIF are offset by other allowable expenses. An agency can demonstrate that it is offsetting net savings by showing that it is continuing to obligate and expend all funds provided to the affected account(s),” it said.
In both reviews, the GAO also noted that OMB’s action to take down information that had been on a publicly accessible website on apportionment of appropriated funds—itself the subject of opposition from Murray and other Democrats, as well as a lawsuit. GAO added that while Energy cooperated in providing the type of information GAO requests for making a determination under the impoundment law, DHS didn’t.
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