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. Treasury Department has changed the standard for what kind of electric vehicles qualify for a federal tax benefit under the Inflation Reduction Act.
New York Republican Rep. George Santos is temporarily stepping down from his congressional committee assignments amid ongoing investigations surrounding his fabrications.
British energy giant BP predicts that fossil fuels as a primary energy source will decline from 80 percent in 2019 to between 55 and 20 percent in 2050.
The costs of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to skyrocket once the government stops buying them, with Pfizer saying it will charge as much as $130 per dose, and millions of people are expected to be kicked off of Medicaid.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before Congress in March about the app's security and its ties to China.
The House Speaker said he wants to address spending cuts along with raising the debt limit, even though the White House has ruled out linking those two issues together as the government tries to avoid a potentially devastating financial default.
The Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation showed the pace of price increases is slowing.
Newly released video shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fighting for control of a hammer with his assailant during a brutal attack in the couple’s San Francisco home last year.
The Biden administration released the "renters' bill of rights" as rent prices soar.
President Joe Biden touted the administration's economic achievements in a Virginia speech, while bashing Republicans for their handling of the nation's debt ceiling.
