Homeland Axing of Oversight Complied With Funding Law, GAO Says

The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t violated federal appropriations law by terminating almost all employees in its civil rights office and other oversight teams, a government watchdog says.

The Government Accountability Office on Thursday found DHS didn’t violate the Impoundment Control Act—which limits when the president can withhold congressionally appropriated funds—in dismantling the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.

The finding is a boon for the Trump administration‘s efforts to downsize and reorganize the federal government and a setback to critics who say Trump’s ...