The Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act a second time by blocking federal spending on museums, libraries, and archives across the U.S. without approval from Congress, the Government Accountability Office said Monday.
“Congress appropriated amounts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to carry out authorized mission activities for fiscal year 2025,” the watchdog said in its report.
“An executive order then directed IMLS to reduce operations. IMLS ceased performing agency functions and withheld from obligation and expenditure funds that Congress appropriated for such functions. Unless Congress has enacted a law providing otherwise, executive branch officials must take care to ensure that they prudently obligate appropriations during their period of availability,” it added.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement, said the investments “need to start flowing immediately.
“President Donald Trump may not like the fact that Congress has, on a bipartisan basis, invested in helping kids learn at their local library — but that does not change the fact that he himself signed these investments into law,” she said.
The GAO three weeks ago said the Trump administration also violated the 51-year-old law blocking Trump from withholding what Congress approved by suspending new obligations under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program.
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