Congressional Democrats are accusing Republican leaders of rushing the selection of a new Government Accountability Office chief, warning that President Donald Trump could gain an ally at the helm of the watchdog before Republicans relinquish their majority in January.

Democratic leaders said Wednesday night that Republicans gave them less than 24 hours to submit candidates for comptroller general, the official who leads the GAO. The office has the authority to sue the administration on Congress’ behalf over the withholding of funding approved by lawmakers.

“This is clearly a sham to enable President Trump to appoint a handpicked nominee to lead Congress’ watchdog,” the Democrats said in a joint statement. They warned against installing “a fox in the henhouse” at an agency Congress relies on for independent oversight.

The statement was signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan and Rep. Robert Garcia of California. Peters and Garcia are the leading Democrats on their chambers’ oversight committees and are supposed to serve on the panel that recommends candidates.

Under federal law, a bipartisan panel of 10 lawmakers recommends candidates to the president, who selects a nominee subject to Senate confirmation. Democrats said Republican leaders on the commission had held no meetings and interviewed no candidates in the more than 10 months since former Comptroller General Gene Dodaro retired.

Orice Williams Brown has led the GAO in an acting capacity since Dodaro’s 15-year term ended last December. She faces growing pressure to sue the Trump administration after it canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding without congressional consent this fall.

Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and sits on the selection panel, said after Dodaro’s retirement that he wanted someone “honest” and cautioned against choosing a person heavily involved in politics.

The Washington Sun reported last month that the administration had floated Eric Ueland, a senior White House budget official and former Senate aide, for the post. POLITICO has not independently confirmed that he is under consideration.

Spokespeople for Paul and Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not immediately respond to requests for comment.