The Trump administration may have violated the law last year by spending money not appropriated by Congress for the Department of Energy, the Government Accountability Office said Thursday.
The watchdog found the DOE budget justification for fiscal 2026 reported hundreds of millions of dollars in “enacted” amounts for fiscal 2025 that did not match congressional appropriations. At the time, the 2025 funding amounts were supposed to mirror 2024 levels under a continuing resolution, but they failed to do so for six offices.
“To the extent that DOE obligated or expended FY 2025 funds in excess of appropriated amount … DOE should report an Antideficiency Act violation,” GAO said.
GAO said it could not determine definitively what happened with the funding because it has not heard from DOE or the Office of Management and Budget on the issue. It remains unclear if the department actually spent the fiscal 2025 money in a way listed on the budget justification document.
