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.
Fox News says it has agreed to part ways with Tucker Carlson, less than a week after settling a lawsuit over the network’s 2020 election reporting.
President Joe Biden said Monday that his top domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, will leave her post next month.
Former President Donald Trump appears in court for his arraignment in a criminal case over fraudulent business records, April 4, 2023, in New York.
The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday night deadline to decide whether women’s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged until a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval is resolved.
President Joe Biden will formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, three people briefed on the discussions said Thursday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres bluntly challenged the climate efforts of President Joe Biden and other world leaders Thursday in a message for a White House summit, charging that expanded oil and gas drilling and other policies of the richest countries amount to a “death sentence” for the planet.
Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations are government-funded or state-affiliated.
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts is being asked to testify to Congress as scrutiny mounts around Justice Clarence Thomas.
The GOP-dominated Iowa Senate passed a bill that would loosen the state's child labor laws.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has unveiled a sweeping package that would raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion into next year.
