White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought launched a scathing attack Friday morning against a Congressional watchdog’s opinion, which concluded that the Trump administration unlawfully withheld funds from a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charging program.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan, independent agency, issued a non-binding legal decision on Thursday stating that the Department of Transportation (DOT) violated the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) by pausing new obligations to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) grant program.
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Vought took to X, to denounce the GAO, stating, “Just so we are all clear over the next several months. The Government Accountability Office or GAO is a quasi-independent arm of the legislative branch that played a partisan role in the first-term impeachment hoax. They are going to call everything an impoundment because they want to grind our work to manage taxpayer dollars effectively to a halt.”
The dispute centers on the Trump DOT’s announcement in February to halt new funding for the $5 billion NEVI program. The program, established under President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was intended to foster the nationwide deployment of EV charging infrastructure. The Trump administration justified the pause by citing a need to review the program’s “inefficient guidance and failed performance.”
Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had previously highlighted implementation issues, alleging in February that states like California had spent a minuscule portion – just 1% – of their allocated funds. The program’s slow rollout under former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been a point of criticism, with a majority of funding remaining unobligated.
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In its ruling, the GAO concluded that the administration’s actions constituted an illegal impoundment. “DOT is not authorized to withhold these funds from expenditure and DOT must continue to carry out the statutory requirements of the program,” the GAO wrote. The agency suggested that if the DOT wished to alter the program, it “could propose funds for rescission or otherwise propose legislation to make changes to the NEVI Formula Program for consideration by Congress.”
The GAO, led by Obama appointee Gene Dodaro, has reportedly initiated numerous investigations into the Trump administration’s handling of congressionally appropriated funds. Dodaro informed senators in April that at least 39 such investigations are currently underway.
Vought, however, downplayed the significance of the GAO’s findings. “These are non-events with no consequence,” he stated. “Rearview mirror stuff.”
This is not the first instance of the GAO finding fault with a Trump administration’s fiscal actions. In 2020, the GAO determined that the administration illegally withheld military aid to Ukraine, a finding that featured in President Trump’s first impeachment proceedings.
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The GAO itself has recently faced criticism from Republicans.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune accused the watchdog of “improperly intervening to protect Biden-era rules” after it determined that Biden administration waivers allowing California to ban new gas-powered car sales by 2035 were not eligible for review under the Congressional Review Act.
A GAO spokesperson defended the agency’s work in a statement, asserting, “GAO’s Impoundment Control Act (ICA) decision does not take a position on the policy goals of electric vehicle charging infrastructure program. Our legal decisions only examine the procedural issues and compliance with the law.” The spokesperson emphasized the GAO’s mission “to provide non-partisan, fact-based information to Congress… We stand behind the quality of our work.”
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