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 government’s top infectious disease expert has told a House committee he believes "it will be when and not if" there will be a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Tues., June 23, 2020.
On Monday, every driver and their crews joined Bubba Wallace in a show of solidarity before the race that was postponed a day by rain.
Alarming surges in coronavirus cases across the South and West are raising fears that the outbreak is spiraling out of control.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Mon., June 22, 2020.
Apple is closing 11 stores in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina that it had reopening just a few weeks ago.
Also called Emancipation Day, or Juneteenth Independence Day, Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States But this second independence day is not a national holiday and most Americans have never even heard of it. Years of systematic racism, segregation, and the oppression of Black Americans have diminished and stamped out efforts to make what should undoubtedly be an American National Holiday.
The director of "Selma,""13th," and "When They See Us," Ava DuVernay, is working to empower other artists to create works to keep law enforcement accountable as police brutality protests have gathered steam throughout the world.
In the midst of a national protest movement calling for an end to systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the idea of celebrating the end of slavery as a national holiday is gaining momentum among political leaders, activists, and corporate head-honchos alike.
NBA Executive, Michele Roberts joins Cheddar to talk discuss being the first woman and person of color to join Cresco Labs' board of directors. Roberts has also been instrumental in the return of the NBA season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
