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.
Julie Menin, director of New York City Census 2020, told Cheddar Wednesday that the pandemic is a stark reminder that the census is important.
Stocks charged higher around the world Wednesday following an encouraging report on a possible treatment for COVID-19.
President Donald Trump will take executive action Tuesday to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply.
Stocks gave up an early gain on Wall Street and are mixed in afternoon trading Tuesday. The day’s leaderboard looks like nearly the mirror opposite of stocks’ performance through the market’s sell-off this year.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic the high court is, for the first time in its 230-year history, holding arguments by telephone.
Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the non-profit healthcare organization, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, talks about how the pandemic has exposed the harsh inequalities driving poorer health outcomes in the U.S.
Banks trying to submit applications for thousands of small businesses seeking coronavirus relief loans have hit a bottleneck for a second day at the Small Business Administration.
Stocks gave up an early gain on Wall Street and were mixed in late morning trading Tuesday while the price of oil continued its wild ride.
Stocks are rising in early trading on Wall Street as nations and some U.S. states move toward reopening their economies from lockdowns made to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson said that the rest of the country will learn a lot from Georgia's experiment.
