GAO found FEMA illegally withheld food, shelter, and detention housing funds; sixth ICA violation in 2025

On September 16, 2025, the Government Accountability Office published its sixth finding of the year that the Trump administration had violated the Impoundment Control Act, concluding that FEMA illegally withheld or delayed the obligation of congressionally-appropriated funds for two grant programs. For the Emergency Food and Shelter Program — which supplements food, shelter, and housing services for homeless individuals and families — GAO found that FEMA "significantly delayed issuing a notice of funding opportunity," constituting "an impermissible withholding and a violation of the ICA." For the Shelter and Services Program, which provides temporary housing funds to relieve overcrowding in immigration detention facilities, FEMA had issued no notice whatsoever, establishing "the intent to impermissibly defer or preclude the obligation of budget authority."

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was enacted specifically to prevent the executive branch from nullifying congressional spending decisions by simply declining to release appropriated funds — a power struggle that had played out repeatedly between Congress and the Nixon administration. GAO emphasized in its September 16 finding that executive orders "cannot function to repeal or undo legislation" and that the President is legally required to "faithfully execute" laws as enacted. OMB Director Russell Vought, who has publicly advocated using impoundment as a policy tool, directed the administration's posture of treating appropriated funds as discretionary.

The Trump administration did not comply with the GAO's conclusions; the funds remained withheld at the time of the report. Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats called the finding further evidence of a pattern: GAO had now documented six separate ICA violations since January 2025, spanning multiple agencies and programs disfavored by the administration. The affected programs — supporting homeless services and immigration detention housing — are distinct from OMB's later impoundments involving infrastructure and urban development funds documented in subsequent GAO findings.