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. residential solar market posted its biggest quarter on record in Q3 2019, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables.
The House Judiciary Committee launched a lively, marathon session Thursday ahead of voting on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a historic step as the deeply partisan panel prepares to send the charges to the full House.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced on Wednesday that interest rates will remain unchanged and could stay there for some time to come.
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist, is Time's 2019 Person of the Year. The 16-year-old is the youngest person to ever receive the honor
Google's 'Year in Search' report is out, and it shows what we've all been looking for in 2019.
The New York State Department of Financial Services has proposed new guidance for licensed cryptocurrency firms that would make it easier for them to add new coins to their offerings, Superintendent Linda Lacewell announced Wednesday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, December 11, 2019.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, December 10, 2019.
House Democrats handed the president one of his biggest legislative victories, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace NAFTA, even as they announce articles of impeachment against him.
Stocks in the U.S. opened higher Tuesday, reversing pre-market losses after a report in the Wall Street Journal signified that American and Chinese negotiators were preparing to delay the next round of tariffs, scheduled to go into effect Sunday. The Journal cited sources close to the matter on both sides of the table.
