Correspondence - Item 27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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masbinaturi,33.t, 20515 June 25, 2025 The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro Comptroller General U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street N.W. Washington, DC 20548 Dear Comptroller General Dodaro: We are writing to request a formal Government Accountability Office (GAO)investigation into potential violations of the Antideficiency Act(Public Law 97-258)by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE)in connection with incidents that occurred on June 7, 2025, at the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles. During a Congressional delegation oversight visit to this federal immigration detention facility, ICE unlawfully denied Congressional access to the facility in direct violation of Section 527(a) of Division C of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47), as incorporated by Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law 119-4). Section 527(a) prevents funding from being used to prevent Members of Congress from "conducting oversight" of"any facility used to detain or otherwise house aliens...". We believe these actions violate the Anti-Deficiency Act. We have attached the subsequent letter Rep. Torres sent to the Secretary laying out the events of that day. We have continued to request access to the building, including offering to work around their schedule, and have been categorically denied entry. While Members of Congress have been granted safe access to conduct oversight of federal funds in places such as active war zones in Ukraine, DHS has declared the federal building in Los Angeles too dangerous for Members of Congress to visit indefinitely, regardless of safety protocols. This pretextual denial of access is a continued effort to mislead Congress in order to prevent appropriate oversight. The next pretextual message from ICE noted that the Agency is too busy to facilitate member visits to Field Offices. We are specifically concerned that ICE may have violated the Antideficiency Act by: 1. Using appropriated funds for activities not authorized by Congress, including the deployment of chemical agents against Members of Congress conducting lawful oversight; 2. Expending funds in a manner that contravenes explicit Congressional prohibitions regarding denial of access to facilities; and 3. Potentially exceeding authorized spending limits through unauthorized operational activities. Given the severity of these allegations and as our delegation included a member of the House Appropriations Committee with oversight responsibility for congressionally appropriated