It all started after 2018 when OMB began requiring HUD to send grant notices for disaster funds through an interagency review process for approval, making it hard for HUD to publish the notices needed to unlock funding in a timely manner. Investigators found that OMB had never before required such a review process for a notice allocating recovery funds.

Former HUD Deputy Secretary Brian Montgomery told investigators about a phone call he had with then-OMB Director Russell Vought in which Montgomery told Vought the actions from his office were equivalent to holding disaster-relief funds "hostage," according to the report.

Investigators said they were unable to obtain testimonies from officials who ordered the interagency review process. Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson and another former HUD official also declined to be interviewed by investigators.

Access to HUD information was delayed or denied multiple times throughout the course of the investigation, the report said, and several former senior administration officials at the OMB refused to provide requested information about their decision-making process in regard to the Puerto Rico relief funds.

However, investigators were able to interview 20 current and former HUD officials and two Puerto Rico housing officials.