WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government's watchdog agency said Thursday a White House office violated federal law in withholding security assistance to Ukraine.
The Government Accountability Office said in a report that the Office of Management and Budget violated the law in holding up the aid. The freeze is at the center of the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
The independent agency, which reports to Congress, said OMB violated the Impoundment Control Act in delaying the security assistance Congress authorized for Ukraine for “policy reasons,” rather than technical budgetary needs.
“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” wrote the agency's general counsel, Thomas Armstrong, in the report.
OMB has argued the hold was appropriate and necessary.
“We disagree with GAO's opinion. OMB uses its apportionment authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President's priorities and with the law," said OMB spokeswoman Rachel Semmel.
Trump was impeached last month on charges of abusing his power for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic rivals, as he was withholding the aid, and for obstructing Congress' ensuing probe. The Senate is set to begin its trial on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the system that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from some Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it hopes to weed out false or misleading animal-welfare claims on meat and poultry packaging with new guidance and testing.
New York City is paying to house newly-arrived migrants in hotel rooms. Cheddar News takes a closer look at one of the hotels, the Holiday Inn, which is housing about 15,000 migrants over the next 15 months.
We've been closely following the migrants that were sent to various cities across the United States. Now New York City is paying for hotel rooms for migrants who were sent there. Cheddar's own Ashley Mastronardi has a closer look at one of the hotels.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that stops public schools and libraries from banning books.
The Biden administration reached a deal to preserve a federal mandate requiring health insurers to cover preventive care at no extra cost for patients.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment in Miami.
The government can keep enforcing “Obamacare” requirements that health insurance plans cover preventative care — such as HIV prevention, some types of cancer screenings and other illnesses — while a legal battle over the mandates plays out, under a court agreement approved Tuesday.
Two men who were active-duty members of the Marines Corps when they stormed the U.S. Capitol pleaded guilty on Monday to riot-related criminal charges.
The Human Rights Campaign, for the first time in its 40-year history, declared a state of emergency for the LGBTQ+ community as anti-LTBTQ+ sentiment is on the rise. Cheddar News explains.
