Elon Musk and President Donald Trump talk about DOGE's efforts to investigate wasteful U.S. government spending from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Murray and DeLauro estimate that the Trump administration has withheld at least $436.87 billion in congressionally approved federal funding across multiple agencies, including for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Transportation Departent. Trump campaigned on slashing government waste and reducing the size of the federal government.
He appointed Musk to be head of the Department of Government Efficiency to root out waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government in order to expedite his agenda and also sought to pull all monies for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
"While President Trump is pushing to pass massive new tax breaks for billionaires like himself, he is unilaterally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in investments owed to the American people," Murray and DeLauro said in a joint statement.
"No American president has ever so flagrantly ignored our nation’s spending laws or so brazenly denied the American people investments they are owed."
The lawmakers released a tracker to keep the public up to date with the figures. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to verify if the figures were accurate.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., slammed the Trump administration for blocking funds. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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The administration has not submitted any formal rescission requests, as required under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
The Democrats also said that DOGE promised to be transparent but has failed to provide Congressional oversight requests and refused to answer basic questions from the press.
"The unprecedented lack of transparency and responsiveness makes tracking what funding is being blocked all the more difficult, and it remains the Trump administration's responsibility to not only follow our spending laws but to explain its actions to date," Murray and DeLauro said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-slam-trump-admins-over-alleged-436b-spending-block