Congress’ chief watchdog said that the U.S. prisoner swap involving Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl violated two laws in a report issued Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office determined that the Department of Defense broke appropriations law that requires 30-day notification to Congress of the use of funds to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. The GAO also said the department violated the Antideficiency Act, a federal law that prohibits agencies from incurring obligations beyond what funding is available.
“In our view, the meaning of [the funding provision] of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, is clear and unambiguous,” the agency’s general counsel, Susan Poling, wrote in a definitive letter.
The department’s failure to comply triggered a violation of the Antideficiency Act, the letter stated — law that is also basis for “government shutdowns” such as they have occurred in the past — because the nearly $1 million the Defense Department used for the transfer was therefore “not legally available.”
“If Congress specifically prohibits a particular use of appropriated funds, any obligation for that purpose is in excess of the amount available,” Poling wrote.
The Bergdahl exchange, which involved the release of five Taliban prisoners, took place May 31 of this year. The Pentagon notified Congress of the swap that same day, which the Obama administration has defended based on its evaluation of the immediate threat to Bergdahl’s life and its authority under the Constitution.
The GAO disagreed, saying that the administration’s interpretation would “render the notification requirement meaningless.”
It is not the agency’s role to weigh in on constitutional questions.
