Joe Biden is now under investigation by the Government Accountability Office following his administration’s freeze of funds being paid to companies who were building the wall on our southern border. The non-partisan watchdog agency will try to determine of the administration overstepped its bounds by cutting off money rightly due to those with government contracts.
“Now the Government Accountability Office is launching a review to determine whether the new president broke the law by freezing the money in violation of budget rules designed to keep Congress in control of the cash flow,” Politico reported. “The probe highlights the challenge presidents have historically faced in fulfilling campaign promises that require money to be spent — or suspended — at odds with Congress’ intent.”
The timing of this investigation couldn’t be worse for Biden as it shines a brighter spotlight on his immediate failures at the border. Masses of migrants are crossing over at unprecedented rates, overwhelming border patrol and causing major logistics issues for housing those CBP is able to apprehend.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have called out the administration for what appears to be an obvious crisis at our borders. Now, they’re looking to the GAO to help them make their point. According to Daily Wire:
Forty Senate Republicans said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office that in “the weeks that followed” Biden suspending construction of the border wall that “operational control of our southern border was comprised and a humanitarian and national security crisis has ensued.”
The letter added:
“The President’s actions directly contributed to this unfortunate, yet entirely avoidable, scenario. They are also a blatant violation of federal law and infringe on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. We write regarding these actions. We believe they violated the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), as interpreted by your office, and we request your legal opinion on the matter. Prompt action to end these violations is required to restore order at the border.”
More than 60 Republican House lawmakers joined their Senate colleagues on Tuesday in pushing the GAO to investigate the matter.
The lawmakers wrote:
“We are writing to be added as co-requesters of a March 17, 2021 letter, signed by 40 United States Senators, requesting the Government Accountability Office’s investigation and legal opinion on the actions of the Biden Administration to suspend border wall construction and to order a freeze of funds provided by Congress for that purpose, which we believe violated the Impoundment Control Act.”
Politico’s report said that it would be unlikely that Biden face any formal punishment for his actions if the the GAO found that Biden illegally paused border wall funding.
This is earliest recorded investigation by the GAO of a new administration. With Biden’s flood of executive orders and reversals of President Trump’s policies, Washington DC and the nation have been jarred by the side-effects. The border is only one such challenge to spring up in the first two months of Biden’s presidency.
This may be a toothless investigation, but highlights the unambiguous failures the Biden administration has imposed on this nation with his weak border policies. Meanwhile, businesses owed money are being shafted.
