Control Yuan submits petition to Constitutional Court over 2025 budget

Taipei, March 24 (CNA) The Control Yuan filed a petition at the Constitutional Court on Monday for a constitutional interpretation of budget cuts passed by the Legislative Yuan.

Yang Chang-hsien (楊昌憲), director of the Control Yuan's Department of Supervisory Investigation, accompanied by his attorney, Wang Shou-yen (王首雁), presented the petition but declined to speak to the media.

In a news release issued on Thursday, the Control Yuan said that the Legislative Yuan's "substantial" 96 percent cut to its operational expenses left the country's highest supervisory body just NT$10 million for the year.

The Legislative Yuan's budget cuts constitute a violation of the principle of separation of powers and "severely endanger" the Control Yuan's ability to carry out its essential monitoring duties, it said.

The Control Yuan stressed that, despite making adjustments, the funding cuts -- which it described as "exceeding reasonable limits" -- have already impacted its operations.

The supervisory body, one of five main branches of Taiwan's constitutional government system, is thus seeking a ruling from the court to uphold constitutional principles and ensure its capacity to monitor government actions is preserved, it said.

The Control Yuan's move on Monday came after Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) promulgated the 2025 Central Government General Budget on March 21 in accordance with procedural precedent.

The government budget included cuts imposed by the Legislative Yuan, which is controlled by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), following a rejection of the Executive Yuan's motion to reconsider the budget.

The Control Yuan's 2025 budget stands at about NT$1.09 billion, including over NT$800 million for personnel costs.

However, the Control Yuan had originally budgeted NT$240 million for operational expenses in 2025, but the Legislative Yuan slashed that amount by NT$230 million, it said.