By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post
Published July 24, 2012
Months of political squabbling last summer between the White House and Congress over how to spend and save trillions of dollars cost taxpayers at least $1.3 billion, according to a new report.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said Monday that the $1.3 billion in costs came as the result of increased borrowing costs for the Treasury Department. The final cost is expected to climb higher as multi-year obligations and other outstanding costs are added later.
Why did it cost so much money? Because as lawmakers and President Obama fought over the details, the Treasury Department had to suspend investments in several funds for federal employees, postal workers and other reserves in order to pay the nation’s financial obligations, the GAO said. Treasury then had to spend more money and time after the fight to restore those funds.