The investigations by the Government Accountability Office come as the White House looks to expand its power over the federal budget.
An independent federal watchdog has opened more than three dozen investigations into the Trump administration to determine if it has illegally withheld billions of dollars in congressionally approved funds, raising the odds of a high-stakes constitutional clash over the power of the government’s purse.
The acknowledgment by the Government Accountability Office came on Tuesday, as House and Senate Democrats estimated for the first time that President Trump might have blocked the delivery of at least $430 billion during his first 100 days in office. That imperiled money enacted for foreign aid, green energy, health and transportation-related programs, potentially in violation of the law.
The dispute originates in Mr. Trump’s vast, chaotic and continued reconfiguration of the federal government. Since the first days of Mr. Trump’s term, he and his top advisers — including the tech billionaire Elon Musk — have shuttered programs while blocking or slowing a wide array of funds seen as wasteful, unnecessary or incompatible with the president’s broader political agenda.
Many Democrats and legal scholars contend that Mr. Trump’s budget maneuvers violate the Constitution, which vest the powers to tax and spend with Congress, not the executive branch. The spending interruptions have also prompted a wave of court challenges as state officials, nonprofits and other federal aid recipients say the White House has acted illegally.
On Tuesday, Gene L. Dodaro, the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, revealed at a congressional hearing that his office had opened “39 different investigations” into the administration. He suggested some of the focus was on cuts or changes to spending at the Education Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and other major federal offices.
Under a 1970s law, the Government Accountability Office has the power to investigate whether an administration has improperly withheld authorized funding in defiance of Congress. The watchdog has the power to sue if it finds the administration illegally impounds funds.