When the books close on the current partial government shutdown — on pace to break the length record later this week — congressional investigators will look for violations of the century-and-a-half-old law mandating that agencies cease any unfunded operations during an appropriations lapse.
But therein lies the rub: There’s no mechanism for enforcement of the law other than the discretion of the executive branch, and in this case the direction to possibly violate the law has come directly from the top — President Donald Trump himself.
The Government Accountability Office, charged with monitoring compliance with the 1870 law known as the Antideficiency Act, is still shut down due to the absence of appropriations. When the government reopens, the nonpartisan agency is likely to have its hands full reviewing the actions of an administration that’s taken more liberties with Congress’ Article I power of the purse than perhaps any other.
