Government watchdog concludes Trump administration broke law by withholding Ukraine aid
The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, said in a decision issued Thursday that the White House budget office violated the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that limits the White House from withholding funds that Congress has appropriated.
The Office of Management and Budget told the GAO it “withheld the funds to ensure that they were not spent ‘in a manner that could conflict with the President’s foreign policy,'” said Thomas Armstrong, the GAO’s general counsel. But the GAO rejected that argument.
“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the GAO wrote. “OMB withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act. The withholding was not a programmatic delay. Therefore, we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.”
“OMB uses its apportionment authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President’s priorities and with the law,” Semmel said.
The White House budget office notified federal agencies that the Ukraine aid was being withheld at the direction of the President on July 18, 2019, according to testimony from the House’s impeachment inquiry.
And House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey of New York said that after the watchdog ruling, “I feel even more strongly that the House has chosen the right course by impeaching President Trump.”
The GAO said its investigation is not yet complete into the matter, as the State Department and OMB did not provide information requested related to the hold of State Department funding to Ukraine. “We will continue to pursue this matter,” the watchdog wrote. (CNN)