Sen. Warner asks if Trump is following law regarding exceptions from shutdown

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/warner-asks-trump-administration-following-law-regarding-exceptions-shutdown

Warner asks if Trump is following law regarding exceptions from shutdown
Virginia senator sends letters to handful of Cabinet departments


Posted Jan 22, 2019 12:29 PM
Niels Lesniewski
@nielslesniewski



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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is asking whether the Trump administration is following the law in implementing the shutdown. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

A senior senator is now asking whether the Trump administration has been complying with federal law in implementing the partial government shutdown, now entering its fifth week.

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The federal law, which dates back to 1982, is supposed to limit the federal government’s ability to spend money in the absence of appropriations from Congress. As more federal workers are being called back to work (still without pay) at agencies affected by the partial shutdown, it’s not clear if a uniform standard has been applied.

Warner cites examples in letters to each of the departments he has written: Agriculture, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury. He also sent a separate letter to the IRS, which has been recalling employees to help process 2018 tax returns.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Warner cited as an example a conference for ambassadors and chiefs of mission that went on as scheduled just last week.

“In another example, on January 17, 2019, your department announced it was recalling all furloughed State Department and USAID employees in order to carry out the Department’s mission without providing additional background on how this complied with the Anti-Deficiency Act and why that move was needed to avoid imminent threats to human life or property,” the senator wrote.