GAO HIT PIECE on TRUMP GETS IT WRONG

A “BRIEF PAUSE” IS NOT WITHHOLDING NOR DEFERRAL


The GAO accuses the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of violating the Budget Control and Impoundment Act. Specifically, GAO says that the Trump Administration violated the terms of a deferral under 2 U.S. Code.§ 684.Proposed deferrals of budget authority.

President Trump is accused of “withholding” funds appropriated by Congress as a gift to Ukraine for 58 days. The Budget Control and Impoundment Act regulates some of the federal budgeting process.

Now mind you the Congress has not complied with the federal budgeting process for years. When it comes to violating the Budget Control Act, the Congress is in a stupor in a heroin den while Trump is accused of jay-walking.


The Act (among many other things) allows the Administration to cancel (rescind) a federal appropriation or to defer an expenditure. So the President does have the power to rescind or defer. But the Act does requires that the President notify Congress under 2 U.S. Code § 684 if the Administration proposes to (1) rescind an appropriation or (2) defer the spending of federal appropriations.

The GAO alleges that Trump’s OMB deferred our gift to Ukraine but didn’t notify Congress. The GAO also alleges that the OMB did not have a permissible reason for a deferral. However, the GAO also whines a lot about wanting more information. So the GAO admits (if you really read between the lines) that they don’t actually know what they are claiming. They are going with the information they have, which they admit is not enough.”




https://canadafreepress.com/article/gao-hit-piece-on-trump-gets-it-wrong


“Federal funds are never spent the day that Congress votes.
There is no deadline for the spending of federal appropriations unless explicitly specified.
There are dozens sometimes hundreds of steps required by the bureaucracy from the time that Congress votes and the President signs a spending bill until the money actually goes out the door. That’s the norm.
There can be many months or years before money is actually sent to the recipient, sometimes in installments.
The processing time by the bureaucracy is not a standard or known length of time. There is no expectation that money will go out the door at any particular time. Just because Congress appropriated funds doesn’t create any expectation for when money will get distributed (unless Congress adds a deadline).
Deferral does not mean just the processing time within the bureaucracy
Deferral is an intentional act—not we are working on it, gives us a moment.”