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 head of security for Huawei, the embattled Chinese tech giant that has been accused of working as a front for Chinese intelligence services, told Cheddar's Hope King on Monday that "no government has ever asked us to spy" and that those accusations were part of a "drumbeat of anti-Huawei criticism."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.
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For the vast majority of Americans, the partial shutdown of the federal government is felt in small ways. For Native Americans, a prolonged shutdown could mean life or death. Aaron Payment, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe, told Cheddar that he's focused on one date: Jan. 15. That's when the tribe's next drawdown of federal funds is scheduled.
Markets soared on Friday ー the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading gaining more than 670 points ーfollowing comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on monetary policy and reports that the jobs market is not slowing.
New York is getting into a crypto state of mind with plans to create the nation's first Crypto Task Force. "New York State is the financial capital of the world, and we must have the proper regulations and proper balance to be able to figure out how to regulate in this space," N.Y. Assemblyman Clyde Vanel told Cheddar.
Rep. Harley Rouda, the newly elected Democrat from California's 48th district, doesn't want to waste any time getting legislation to the floor that will stimulate wage growth, which showed better-than-expected strength in Friday's blowout jobs report but remains a concern for economists.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 4, 2019.
Alan Dershowitz has written the book on reasons not to impeach President Trump ー and he thinks re-elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just might follow his counsel. "I think she is the adult in the room and she'll take my advice," Dershowitz told Cheddar on Thursday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019.
