Comer, Oversight Republicans Call for Budget Cuts in FY 2025 for Biden Admin Agencies Obstructing Congressional Oversight
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and several Committee Republicans today called on the Committee on Appropriations to use the power of the purse to hold government agencies accountable by withholding funding in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget from agencies who have failed to cooperate with oversight investigations. Throughout the 118th Congress, the Biden Administration has failed to accommodate legitimate requests from Congress to bring transparency to the operations of federal agencies and their ability to accomplish their duties for the American people.
“Throughout the 118th Congress, the Biden Administration has been reluctant to fully respond to legitimate oversight requests. Agency heads appointed by President Biden, and at times, the White House itself, have repeatedly defied congressional authority to conduct oversight over the operations of the executive branch and how the Administration is carrying out its duties under the law. The Constitution provides that the government may only draw funds from the treasury ‘in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law…’ It is well past time for Congress to leverage its authority by using the power of the purse to compel compliance with oversight requests,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers detail numerous Biden Administration agencies who have failed to comply with congressional oversight requests, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Defense (DoD). These agencies have met Committee requests for documents, communications, and information with delay or refusal to comply.
“In the 118th Congress, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability has been met with reluctance, recalcitrance, and outright obstruction by the Biden Administration. Instead of accommodating legitimate requests from Congress pursuant to its oversight authority, the Biden Administration has met these requests with delay or refusal to comply. The appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2025 must signal to the Administration that its behavior will no longer be tolerated,” the lawmakers continued.
Read the letter to Committee on Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole here.