The Government Accountability Office (GAO), responding to a request from Congress for a legal opinion, has determined that HUD Secretary Ben Carson broke the law by obligating and failing to report an order for a $31,561 dining room table set for his office, as well as the purchase and installation of a new dishwasher and water treatment system totaling nearly $9,000. Members of the House and Senate Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) specifically asked GAO if the purchases were consistent with section 710 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Acts of 2016 and 2017, and the Antideficiency Act.'Agencies are required to notify Congress of expenditures over $5,000 to furnish an executive's office. GAO determined that a separate expenditure of $4,000 on new blinds for Secretary Carson's office and office suite did not require notification and did not exceed section 710's $5,000 threshold.
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