Trump Found to Flout Spending Law by Curbing Migrant Funds (1)

The Department of Homeland Security violated federal appropriations law by withholding money for local governments and nonprofits that care for migrants, a government watchdog says in a report disputed by the agency.

The Government Accountability Office on Monday determined DHS defied the Impoundment Control Act — which limits when the president can withhold congressionally appropriated funds — by halting payouts under two Federal Emergency Management Agency grant programs designed to address homelessness and defray the costs of housing and caring for migrants who recently arrived in the US.

The funding halt and GAO’s finding that it violated federal law highlight tension between Congress and the executive branch over how the Trump administration has attempted to cut what it deems wasteful spending, even if it’s directed by Congress. GAO has found several of Trump’s actions run afoul of the impoundment law.

“The burden to justify withholdings rests with the executive branch, and GAO has a statutory duty to report to Congress impoundments the President has not reported,” GAO said in its Monday report on the migrant funds.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the GAO report “is simply incorrect.”

“This allegation is nothing more than nitpicking a technicality to try to make FEMA look bad,” she said in a statement to Bloomberg Government. “The facts are that FEMA is going to award these funds, and no money is being impounded.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump officials have argued that the migrant funds represented an abuse of taxpayer dollars, pointing to the use of the grants to house some migrants at a New York City hotel. She fired officials from FEMA, which administers the grants, for making payments.

Read more: FEMA Fires Top Finance Official Over Migrant Payments to NYC

Congress approved $650 million for the Shelter and Services Program for fiscal 2024, a level that was continued through a stopgap funding measure for fiscal 2025. The grants build on a related funding process that originated during President Donald Trump’s first administration to help manage migrant arrivals.

Read more: Migrant Care Grants in Limbo Amid Trump Funding Freeze Plans

FEMA in February announced that “no new obligation, disbursement, or payment of funds previously obligated may be issued pending additional guidance” from Noem on the migrant grants. It also delayed payments of money to address homelessness, according to GAO.

“Donald Trump and Russ Vought need to immediately allow these resources to flow, and Republican lawmakers need to join us insisting every last bit of this funding gets out the door in a fair, impartial way,” Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement Monday.

McLaughlin argued that GAO ignored the fact that DHS restructured the migrant grants into the Detention Support Grant Program and has published funding notices for the separate grants addressing homelessness.

“FEMA is diligently reviewing these applications and is on track to award these funds before they expire,” she said.