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.
TikTok's global chief information and security officer, Roland Cloutier, dismisses claims that the app is a security threat and provides user information to China.
Trump administration negotiators are back at the Capitol for last-ditch talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money. Democratic leaders summoned them for another try with the negotiations teetering on the brink of collapse.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
New York schools can bring children back to classrooms for the start of the school year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.
Media reports say 26 billboards are going up across Louisville, Kentucky, demanding that the police officers involved in Taylor’s death be arrested and charged. That’s one billboard for every year of the Black woman’s life.
The U.S. is imposing sanctions on pro-China officials in Hong Kong, including the leader of the government, for their alleged roles in squashing freedom in the former British colony.
he nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has rejected a request from the Trump campaign to either add an additional general election debate or move up the calendar for the contests.
The Trump administration has moved to raise application fees for various immigration processes, including asylum. Michelle N. Mendez, director of defending vulnerable programs at CLINIC, calls the move an attack on immigration.
New York’s attorney general is suing the National Rifle Association, seeking to put the powerful gun advocacy organization out of business over allegations that high-ranking executives diverted millions of dollars for personal benefit.
U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day.
