GAO finds DOT funding pause on electric vehicle charging illegal
Source: Roll Call
Posted May 22, 2025 at 3:47pm
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 Vice Chair 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.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/05/22/gao-finds-dot-funding-pause-on-electric-vehicle-charging-illegal/
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