CREW calls for congressional leadership to investigate potential violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act
Congress should investigate the executive branch’s potential violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act during the government shutdown, according to a letter submitted to congressional leadership by CREW.
The Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from spending or obligating money without congressional approval. Under this law, when there are no funds available for agency activities during a shutdown, the authorized activities of federal agencies and officials are restricted, rather than expanded to permit partisan messaging. Despite this, federal agencies and cabinet secretaries repeatedly engaged in partisan messaging over the course of the shutdown.
Numerous federal agencies added notification banners to their agency homepages and websites that used partisan language to pejoratively characterize the appropriations process. The Department of Agriculture, for example, posted a message on its website homepage that read “Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government. This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands. Senate Democrats are withholding services to the American people in exchange for healthcare for illegals, gender mutilation, and other unknown ‘leverage’ points.”
In that vein, the Department of Homeland Security aired a video in airports during the shutdown in which Secretary Kristi Noem told travelers that “Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government and because of this, many of our operations are impacted.”
Other cabinet secretaries also made public statements in their official capacities blaming Democrats and directing their respective audiences to contact Congress regarding legislative action. For instance, during a televised interview, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, referring to onscreen images of flight schedules illustrating the extent of delays, instructed viewers, “If you are delayed, if you are cancelled, there is only one mission that you have. Call [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer, and call your senator and tell them to open up the government.”
During a lapse in appropriations, it is imperative for Congress to act as a check on the executive branch’s power and protect its power of the purse. For that reason, congressional leadership must initiate an investigation into the potential misuse of taxpayer dollars on partisan messaging in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act.