11 votes

Office of Management and Budget—Withholding of Ukraine security assistance

6 comments

  1. [6]
    moocow1452
    Link

    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.

    6 votes
    1. [5]
      onyxleopard
      Link Parent
      But he did! What are the consequences? It seems the US government has abdicated its responsibility to enforce the law. AFAICT, laws are worthless if we are not going to enforce them when they are...

      Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to …

      But he did! What are the consequences? It seems the US government has abdicated its responsibility to enforce the law. AFAICT, laws are worthless if we are not going to enforce them when they are broken.

      8 votes
      1. [5]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [4]
          onyxleopard
          Link Parent
          If one party can subvert the whole government and rebuke the rule of law, what good is there in having a Government Accountability Office? What is the purpose of this announcement? To wag their...

          If one party can subvert the whole government and rebuke the rule of law, what good is there in having a Government Accountability Office? What is the purpose of this announcement? To wag their proverbial finger?

          5 votes
          1. [4]
            Comment deleted by author
            Link Parent
            1. [3]
              onyxleopard
              Link Parent
              What I’ve learned from all this is that the US government and its institutions are at least an order of magnitude weaker than I was taught in school. The other thing I’ve learned is that any...

              What I’ve learned from all this is that the US government and its institutions are at least an order of magnitude weaker than I was taught in school. The other thing I’ve learned is that any self-respecting nation needs to take education as a matter of national security. If your citizens aren’t educated, your nation is at severe risk of being manipulated by adversaries.

              7 votes
              1. [2]
                Neverland
                Link Parent
                What do you do when one party has decided that higher education is detrimental? It seems to me that what I always considered basic critical thinking skills and exposure to many ideas are now a...

                What do you do when one party has decided that higher education is detrimental? It seems to me that what I always considered basic critical thinking skills and exposure to many ideas are now a partisan issue.

                Results from another recent Pew survey indicate that those views have persisted. In July, only 33 percent of Republican survey respondents said higher ed had a positive effect. And 59 percent believed higher ed had a negative effect on the country’s direction, the highest number in the survey’s findings so far.

                https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/08/20/majority-republicans-have-negative-view-higher-ed-pew-finds

                1 vote
                1. onyxleopard
                  Link Parent
                  It’s not even higher education I’m talking about. It’s basic things like being able to entertain an idea on its merits without accepting it.

                  It’s not even higher education I’m talking about. It’s basic things like being able to entertain an idea on its merits without accepting it.

                  1 vote