Congressional Watchdog Says DOGE Cuts to Head Start Violated Federal Law

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Jul 24, 2025

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that another element of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rampage though the federal government was a violation of the Impoundment Control Act.

This time, it’s the funding that the Trump administration withheld from Head Start grantees, a federally funded preschool program that serves children from low-income families. The federal grants help fund education, nutrition, health and social services for children.

The GAO reported to Congress on Wednesday that the Trump administration violated the act when it failed to properly disburse congressionally authorized funds for the program, which is run through the Department of Health and Human Services. Between January and April of this year, HHS only sent out about 65 percent of the funding that it sent out during the same period last year. That’s about $825 million less, funds that should’ve gone out to Head Start programs around the country.

Journalist and friend-of-TPM Bryce Covert reported in May that leaders of Head Start programs around the country had started to voice concern that their funding had not been disbursed. Per her coverage in The American Prospect at the time:

Congress has fully funded Head Start through the end of this fiscal year, yet multiple signs point to the Trump administration withholding at least some of the money programs rely on. According to an analysis by Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) office, as of April 15 the federal government had sent Head Start programs nearly $1 billion less than it had at the same point last year, representing a 37 percent annualized cut. The money continued to flow relatively normally through February, and then in March and April it started to fall off a cliff.

The GAO is an independent agency embedded within the legislative branch that reviews federal spending, makes recommendations on cost savings to Congress and investigates policy implementation. (Ironically, it is often the independent agency that actually does the work of spotting fraud and misspent funds that DOGE has claimed it would do.) Now, the GAO has spent the better half of the year investigating the damage that DOGE has done. It has more than two dozen cases focused on DOGE cuts that it is investigating as potential violations of the Impoundment Control Act. It’s issued rulings on three so far, including the Head Start findings. Others include finding that the Trump administration unlawfully blocked funding for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations and for the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This is all, of course, just providing additional verification of what has been clear for some time: That Elon Musk’s attack on the separation of powers — slashing federal spending that had already been appropriated by Congress — was, more than likely, a violation of federal law and, in various ways, the processes enshrined in the Constitution. The GAO’s findings are non-binding reports to Congress that only bolster those concerns.

The GAO found that the Trump administration’s failure to properly disburse funds during that three month period may have violated the Head Start Act, as well.

“Once enacted, an appropriation is a law like any other, and the President must implement it by ensuring that appropriated funds are obligated and expended prudently during their period of availability unless and until Congress enacts another law providing otherwise,” the GAO said in its report.

For its part, an HHS spokesperson told the Washington Post that it doesn’t agree with the GAO’s conclusions.

Controversy-Ridden Bove Inches Ever Closer To Lifetime Judgeship

Despite the many controversies surrounding his brief tenure as President Donald Trump’s hatchet man at the Department of Justice, Emil Bove has moved one step closer to getting a lifetime seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Senate voted 50-48 on Thursday to limit debate on Bove’s nomination. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) broke with their caucus and voted against advancing Bove alongside all Democrats. Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) did not vote.

The Trump-backed nominee has been at the center of allegations from a DOJ whistleblower who said Bove suggested attorneys may need to defy court orders blocking plans to send Venezuelan migrants to a foreign prison.

Bove was also behind an effort to fire the DOJ prosecutors who worked on the hundreds of Jan. 6 cases.

More than 900 former Justice Department attorneys recently signed a letter pushing back on his nomination. Similarly, over 75 former federal and state judges signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject the “deeply inappropriate” nomination.

— Emine Yücel

A Mini Break

I (Nicole Lafond, the person who writes Where Things Stand) am taking a week off work to go sit on the beach and not read the news. WTS will return to your inbox on August 4th!