Walkinshaw, Ranking Member Garcia Call for GAO Investigation into Vought’s Illegal Layoff Directive During Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42), the Committee’s Ranking Member, today requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate whether President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought’s directive ordering agencies to issue Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notices during the GOP government shutdown violates the Antideficiency Act.

In their letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, the lawmakers condemned OMB’s description of the shutdown as an “opportunity” to fire federal employees, calling the memo “legally unsupportable and unconstitutional.”

“Setting aside the abhorrent description of a GOP government shutdown as an ‘opportunity,’ this OMB memorandum rests on a legally unsupportable premise,” the Members wrote. “A lapse in appropriations suspends the availability of funds but does not repeal or nullify statutory mandates. Undefined ‘Presidential priorities’ cannot substitute for statutory direction.”

The Members urged GAO to determine whether agency compliance with OMB’s directive would constitute a violation of the Antideficiency Act, noting that the Act “does not authorize agencies to incur obligations for the purpose of planning or executing reductions in force during a shutdown.” 

They emphasized that any agency implementing Trump and Vought’s directive would be breaking federal law and required to report that violation to Congress.

Their request follows reports that the Trump administration has used the shutdown to accelerate workforce reductions that have already weakened agency oversight and public service delivery.

Read the full letter here.

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