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The US Department of Agriculture should have obtained approval from Congress before deciding to relocate two research facilities from Washington, DC, to Kansas City, a report by the agency’s inspector general finds. The USDA may have violated federal law because the Omnibus Act requires congressional approval before creating, cancelling, or moving a project, according to The Kansas City Star.
The inspector general also determined that the agency didn’t comply with a 60-day deadline to outline to Congress how it would spend $6 million set aside for relocation expenses, Politico reports.
Democratic lawmakers who had asked for the inspector general to investigate oppose the move to Kansas City. “The [USDA] Secretary must follow the will of Congress and refrain from moving forward with the relocation until Congress approves the use of funds for those purposes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) ...
