White House Broke the Law in Withholding Aid to Ukraine, Watchdog Says
- Congressional watchdog agency concludes delay wasn’t warranted
- Report issued as Trump impeachment trial set to get under way
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The White House budget office violated federal law when it withheld about $214 million appropriated by Congress to the Defense Department for security aid to Ukraine, an independent congressional watchdog agency concluded.
“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 nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said in a released Thursday. The Office of Management and Budget “withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act.”