OMB withholds $214M in Ukraine security aid, violating Impoundment Control Act

Beginning July 18, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget withheld $214 million in congressionally-appropriated military assistance to Ukraine through internal apportionment footnotes blocking all unobligated funds from obligation. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney coordinated the hold without informing the Defense Department of the reasons. The Government Accountability Office ruled on January 16, 2020 that the hold violated the Impoundment Control Act, stating that "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 aid was released only after Congress learned of it through the Zelensky whistleblower complaint.