Forty senators suggest president’s actions are unlawful.
On Wednesday, a group of 40 senators asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether President Biden’s decision to freeze more than $1 billion in congressionally-approved border wall funding violates federal law.
The coalition, led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, noted the president’s immediate suspension of border wall construction on Inauguration Day. In the weeks following the inauguration, “operational control of our southern border was compromised and a humanitarian and national security crisis has ensued,” the senators wrote.
“An appropriations act is a law like any other; therefore, the president must take care to ensure that appropriations are prudently obligated in the manner they were provided by Congress,” the letter continued.
“Freezing the funding is fueling the crisis at our southern border,” Senator Capito stated on social media, adding that President Biden’s suspension of border wall funding and construction is ”without lawful justification.”
Congress approved nearly $1.4 billion in border wall funding in December 2020 for fiscal year 2021 as part of former President Trump’s $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package.
The GAO managing director of public affairs confirmed the office has received the letter but added that every new request goes through a review process that usually takes several weeks.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For officials in the Government Accountability Office who will review and rule on the letter from the senators.
- For the Border Protection agents dealing with the growing humanitarian crisis at the southern border.
- For members of Congress as they seek to uphold the Constitution.
Sources: Fox News, The Hill
