HUD inspector general says agency broke lobbying law

Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Susan Gaffney has accused the agency of breaking the law by spending taxpayer dollars to produce and distribute a report opposing cuts to HUD programs.

According to an Associated Press report, Gaffney wrote a letter to Comptroller General David Walker saying HUD officials had violated a federal law against using taxpayer money to lobby Congress when they published a report called "Losing Ground."

The report, which cost more than $20,000 to produce, was critical of proposed GOP tax cuts and implied that interested parties should lobby Congress to spare cutbacks to HUD programs, Gaffney said. It was sent to HUD grantees, the press, public interest groups and historically black colleges.

The General Accounting Office reviewed the report last year and concluded that it did not vioalate anti-lobbying laws, but Gaffney wants GAO to reconsider. HUD contends that its actions were legal.

The dispute is the latest in a long series of public battles between Gaffney and HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo.