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.
Tubi Daily News Powered by Cheddar for the morning of November 11th, 2018
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.
These are the top stories, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Michelle Obama's memoir, "Becoming," hit shelves this week, with a rollout that felt more like a concert tour ー including appearances by Oprah, packed stadium events, and near-universal morning TV coverage.
British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan had a turbulent rollout this week, but the British Trade Commissioner for North America said the path to a successful exit from the European Union is still on track. "So far, we are on course for the path that she set out just after the referendum almost two years ago," Antony Phillipson said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fighting back after the New York Times published an investigation into how the company failed to address Russian meddling in the 2016 election. California officials doubled the number of people missing as a result of the wildfires to more than 600. And Bill Oliver, director of the new sci-fi drama 'Jonathan,' joins Cheddar to discuss his new film starring Ansel Elgort.
Facebook's latest scandal has raised serious questions about founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's oversight of the troubled media giant.
A federal judge made a limited ruling Friday that the White House must immediately restore press access to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Fifth Amendment grounds.
After a machine recount of ballots in the U.S. Senate race in Florida between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson found them still within a hair's breadth of each other, the state is now endeavoring to recount, by hand, millions of the votes cast. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin reports from Palm Beach County on the latest developments.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.
