Biden Under Investigation by GAO for Border Wall Funds Freeze
Work is done on a new border wall being constructed on January 22, 2021 in Jacumba, California. President Joe Biden has unveiled an immigration reform proposal offering an eight-year path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally as well as green cards to upwards of a million DACA recipients and temporary protected status to farmworkers already in the United States. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Amid the issues concerning the border wall, President Joe Biden is reportedly under probe for allegedly freezing payments worth billions of dollars for the companies contracted to finish the southern border wall initiated by former President Donald Trump.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is now overseeing an investigation that would determine if Biden broke the law by halting the release of the money.

It was reported that he could be facing a violation of the budget rules, which are designed to keep cash flow in control of Congress.

On his first day as president, Biden ordered to halt the money to be spent on the border wall, which would serve as a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico.

Halting of Budget Resulted in Border Crisis

In a letter sent to the GAO, 40 Republicans from the Senate stated that operational control of the southern border was compromised when Biden froze funding for the wall's construction.

The pause on funding also "directly contributed" to the rise in illegal border crossings, Senate Republicans said in their plea last week for GAO to opine on the issue.

The letter also stated that Biden's actions had caused national security and humanitarian crisis.

The report of Biden being under investigation comes as the administration struggles to control the crisis in the U.S.- Mexico border. Aside from the Republicans, Biden has also received backlash from the President of Mexico and even his fellow Democrats.

According to Politico, if the GAO rules against Biden, it could bolster the Republican's stance that Biden is a rule-breaker and that he is to blame for the sudden increase in the number of migrants and unaccompanied minors coming to the southern border.

In their request for GAO to intervene on the issue, Senate Republicans maintained that the sudden surge in border crosses is directly connected to the pause of the spending in the construction of the wall.

On Tuesday, more than 60 House Republicans also asked for GAO opinion on whether Biden's action violated federal law, Fox News reported.

Senate Republican Policy Committee chair, Sen. Roy Blunt, noted that Biden should understand that it is the Congress' job to authorize how the money is spent, and it's the president's job to spend it efficiently.

Blunt further noted that Biden spent more than three decades as a Senator, thus, he should know better.

However, according to The Daily Wire, even if GAO decides that the halting of the border wall's funding is illegal, Biden is unlikely to face severe punishment.

It noted that Biden might not be in as deep trouble as Trump has been when he pressed pause on the Ukrain aid without a "go" from the Congress. It can be recalled that Trump went through impeachment for the act but was acquitted by the Senate.

The White House said that Biden's move is different from Trump's decision to cut international aid in several ways.

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, a manager at the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, told Politico that the Biden administration must be cautious in making a decision, "because otherwise they're just going to be doing the exact thing the Trump administration did."

Meanwhile, Congressional leaders emphasized that both Trump and Biden's move on funding shows why there is a need for transparency in the federal budget law.

WATCH: Sen. Capito Questions Legality of Biden Halting Border Wall Construction - From Fox Business