The White House Is Not Complying With Inquiries From Government’s Top Watchdog

The White House is ignoring requests from the government’s chief watchdog, according to a letter from the agency, which said officials are either refusing to cooperate or not responding to inquiries at all. Government Accountability Office General Counsel Thomas Armstrong made his complaints in a letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, which was made public by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The unfulfilled requests concerned McGahn’s office and the National Security Council, Armstrong said, who added that he understood it to be White House policy to ignore GAO’s inquiries. Such a directive, he said, marked a “clear departure from past policy.” GAO’s requests that went unanswered involved a wide range of topics, from NSC’s overseas stabilization efforts to inspector general vacancies to presidential travel.