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 U.S. military said a Russian warplane struck the propeller of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, causing America forces to bring the unmanned aircraft down in international waters.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing the nation's first-ever drinking water standard around polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or "forever chemicals."
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that will ramp up the number of background checks conducted before gun sales.
A pioneer for women’s and family rights in Congress, former Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder, has died at the age of 82.
Illinois will become one of three states to require employers to offer paid time off for any reason.
Roku was among those businesses impacted by the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, having around 26 percent of its cash and cash equivalents deposited at the bank.
Depositors withdrew savings, and investors broadly sold off bank shares as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system is secure following two bank failures.
The Biden administration is approving the major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as the nation's president Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life.
