PerspectiveAmid Questions of Legality on Delaying Ukraine Aid, White House Shifted Authority: Report
The White House earlier this year authorized a politically appointed official to withhold military aid meant for Ukraine after budget staff members questioned the legality of delaying the congressionally approved funds, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. After the OMB’s budget staff members questioned Trump’s blocking of the congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine, Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs in OMB, was given the authority to continue holding the funds. Duffey was previously a high-ranking Pentagon official and the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. Former OMB officials told the Journal that it’s highly unusual for a political officer like him to gain such power.
The White House earlier this year authorized a politically appointed official to withhold military aid meant for Ukraine after budget staff members questioned the legality of delaying the congressionally approved funds, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Marty Johnson writes in The Hill that President Trump’s mid-July decision to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine came just days before his highly scrutinized July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the president asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
The Journal reported that career officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) became apprehensive that they didn’t have the legal authority to hold up the funds.
Johnson writes:
The withholding of aid was originally carried out by career OMB officials, but eventually Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs in OMB, was given the authority to continue holding the funds after staffers made their concerns over the legality of the matter known, the Journal reported.
Duffey was previously a high-ranking Pentagon official and the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.
Former OMB officials told the Journal that it’s highly unusual for a political officer like him to gain such power.
