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.
President Joe Biden has memorialized Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as a pioneer in the legal world who inspired generations of women.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will take on the role of head of the Social Security Administration after the Senate voted to confirm him.
President Biden's pleas for Congress to approve more Ukrainian aid before year's end appears to be coming up short.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has approved sweeping new powers that allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the U.S. border and give local judges authority to order them to leave the country.
Two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgement against Rudy Giuliani are asking for a court order barring him from continuing to repeat the lies he spread about them following the 2020 election.
A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows cannot move charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia to federal court.
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
The U.S. Justice Department has created a database to track records of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers that is aimed at preventing agencies from unknowingly hiring problem officers, officials said on Monday.
The House of Representatives recently passed a bill aimed at increasing transparency in healthcare.
In the Red Sea this morning, a U.S. warship, the USS Carney responded to a distress call by a commercial vessel after it came under attack.
