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 president claimed that the drone attack on Iran's Major General Qassem Soleimani was meant to reduce tensions in the region, but the Democrats contend the targeted killing may have the opposite result.
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Jacob Rich, a policy analyst from Reason Foundation, which advocates for individual liberty and free markets, said the Trump administration ban on flavored e-cigarettes is “not quite effective.”
Hours after the attack at Baghdad International Airport, the Department of Homeland Security's top cybersecurity official reissued a summer bulletin warning of increased cyberattacks by the Iranian government and its allies.
The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump, defense officials said Friday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Friday that she raised $21.2 million from October through December, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she took in $11.4 million for her White House bid to close out the year.
The majority of the top 10 candidates spent more on television and radio advertising than they did on Facebook ads by the end of November.
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The number dropped by 2,000 to 222,000 in the seven days up until December 28, although the four-week average ticked up by 4,750 to 233,250.
The administration announced Thursday that it will prohibit fruit, candy, mint and dessert flavors from small, cartridge-based e-cigarettes that are popular with high school students. But menthol and tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes will be allowed to remain on the market.
