Forty Republican Senators are accusing President Biden of breaking federal budget laws when he suspended the construction of the border wall. They argue his construction halt is contributing to the current crisis at the SouthWest border and that the move was not allowed under budget rules. They are demanding an investigation.
Bloomberg reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) along with 39 other Senate Republican are calling on the Government Accountability Office to investigate Biden for a possible violation of a 1974 act that forbids the executive branch from refusing to spend Congressionally-appropriated funds.
According to the GOP letter, “On January 20, in one of the first official acts of his presidency, Joseph Biden suspended border wall construction and ordered a freeze of funds provided by Congress for that purpose. In the weeks that followed, operational control of our southern border was compromised and a humanitarian and national security crisis has ensued. The President’s actions directly contributed to this unfortunate, and yet entirely avoidable scenario. They are also a blatant violation of federal law and infringe on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse.”
The letter continues by asking the head of the GAO to render a legal opinion on whether President Biden billeted the “Impoundment Control Act.”
Increasingly, the border has become a major problem for the Biden administration. Southwest border crossings are currently on pace for the highest level in 20 years.
