Quote (ThatAlex @ Jan 23 2020 01:01pm)
New evidence has arisen. The OMB has said that the Trump administration unlawfully withheld funds from Ukraine. And now the Senate is rejecting OMB subpoenas.
I'm tempted at this point to say Democrats should just go the other way with this. Just hold the vote without really going through all the details and public debate and see how it plays out with the American public.
A Pew and Reuters poll came out yesterday. Pew: 51% of Americans showed Trump should be removed from office by the Senate (45% did not). Reuters/Ipsos: 72% agreed that the trial “should allow witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the impeachment charges to testify,” including 84% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans.
you are misquoting what was said.
https://www.gao.gov/products/B-331564#mt=e-reportQuote
In the summer of 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withheld from obligation funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) for security assistance to Ukraine. In order to withhold the funds, OMB issued a series of nine apportionment schedules with footnotes that made all unobligated balances unavailable for obligation.
Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law. OMB withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). The withholding was not a programmatic delay. Therefore, we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.
even if you want put the blame "soley" on President Trump, there is a statutory remedy to this.
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title2/chapter17B&edition=prelimQuote
§686. Reports by Comptroller General
(a) Failure to transmit special message
If the Comptroller General finds that the President, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the head of any department or agency of the United States, or any other officer or employee of the United States—
(1) is to establish a reserve or proposes to defer budget authority with respect to which the President is required to transmit a special message under section 683 or 684 of this title; or
(2) has ordered, permitted, or approved the establishment of such a reserve or a deferral of budget authority;
and that the President has failed to transmit a special message with respect to such reserve or deferral, the Comptroller General shall make a report on such reserve or deferral and any available information concerning it to both Houses of Congress. The provisions of sections 682 to 688 of this title shall apply with respect to such reserve or deferral in the same manner and with the same effect as if such report of the Comptroller General were a special message transmitted by the President under section 683 or 684 of this title, and, for purposes of sections 682 to 688 of this title, such report shall be considered a special message transmitted under section 683 or 684 of this title.
(b) Incorrect classification of special message
If the President has transmitted a special message to both Houses of Congress in accordance with section 683 or 684 of this title, and the Comptroller General believes that the President so transmitted the special message in accordance with one of those sections when the special message should have been transmitted in accordance with the other of those sections, the Comptroller General shall make a report to both Houses of the Congress setting forth his reasons.
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§687. Suits by Comptroller General
If, under this chapter, budget authority is required to be made available for obligation and such budget authority is not made available for obligation, the Comptroller General is hereby expressly empowered, through attorneys of his own selection, to bring a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to require such budget authority to be made available for obligation, and such court is hereby expressly empowered to enter in such civil action, against any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States, any decree, judgment, or order which may be necessary or appropriate to make such budget authority available for obligation. No civil action shall be brought by the Comptroller General under this section until the expiration of 25 calendar days of continuous session of the Congress following the date on which an explanatory statement by the Comptroller General of the circumstances giving rise to the action contemplated has been filed with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.
tl:dr - worst case scenario
the Comptroller General (who is the decision maker for GAO) makes a statement on behalf of the President, if there is a lacking "reserve" or "deferral" for with-holding aid. that becomes the reserve or deferral.
at this point, if aid is still being held up 25 days after the reserve/deferral. a civil suit is brought against any federal agency, employee, officer, etc. etc., "if" budget authority is still not available for obligation... to make it available.
and... it was already sent.
this is a battle of separation of powers. as seen in prior history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impoundment_of_appropriated_fundsQuote
Impoundment is an act by a President of the United States of not spending money that has been appropriated by the U.S. Congress. Thomas Jefferson was the first president to exercise the power of impoundment in 1801. The power was available to all presidents up to and including Richard Nixon, and was regarded as a power inherent to the office.
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However, the procedure set up by the Act was cumbersome. All recent presidents supported the restoration of the impoundment power, including Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Politicians such as John McCain, John Kerry, Al Gore, Pat Buchanan, Jeb Hensarling, Russ Feingold, Joe Lieberman, Judd Gregg and Paul Ryan also supported the restoration of the power.[7]
oh and day 3 started:
This post was edited by tagged4nothing on Jan 23 2020 12:39pm