Right now, virtually nobody in America is saying, “Hey, have ya heard about that new report from the Government Accountability Office?” That’s because, outside of Washington, virtually nobody has ever heard of the Government Accountability Office. Why pay attention to a federal agency that talks in bureaucratese, an agency that writes reports about “unobligated balances unavailable for obligation”?
Nevertheless, the independent, nonpartisan GAO currently deserves our attention because yesterday it rendered a devastating opinion about Donald Trump’s lawlessness just as the U.S. Senate prepared to put him on trial. It said that when Trump unilaterally froze the congressionally-enacted military aid to Ukraine (seeking to pressure Ukraine to investigate his front-running Democratic opponent), he violated the U.S. Constitution and broke the law.
A president swears an oath to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” but, as the GAO pointed out, this particular president refused to faithfully follow the 1974 law that protects Congress’ power of the purse – as spelled out in Article I of our founding document. In colloquial terms, Trump did what he always does: he broke bad.
Congress in fiscal 2019, and with support from the Pentagon, had appropriated $250 million in military aid for the express purpose of buttressing Ukraine’s efforts to repel deadly threats from Russia, and Trump had signed that aid into law. But then he secretly froze it for months, seeking to boost his reelection prospects by squeezing Ukraine for Biden dirt, and he released the money only after he got caught.
The GAO report states: “The president is not vested with the power to ignore or amend any such duly enacted law…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 GAO stated that Trump’s behavior had “constitutional significance,” because “All federal officials and employees take an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution and its core tenets, including the congressional power of the purse.”
This report obviously fuels the powerful case for Trump’s removal – or at minimum, it should fuel the argument for trial witnesses, because top Trump staffer Mick Mulvaney played a key role in breaking the law and breaching the Constitution. But Trump’s acolytes have reacted by attacking the GAO, because, as we well know, any criticism of dear leader is by definition illegitimate.
Richard Shelby, a senator from Alabama, said yesterday, “I think they shouldn’t be deciding who broke the law.” (That has always been the GAO’s core mission.) Others said that the GAO is a pro-Democrat agency. (It has long ruled against presidents of both parties, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.) Laura Ingraham said on Fox News that the GAO report was “a toothless declaration.” (Which is true; the agency can’t impose criminal penalties. The Senate “jurors” have to decide whether the ruling on Trump’s lawlessness boosts the case for his removal.)
Here’s the bottom line: Trump’s defenders have long chanted, “Where’s the crime?” They’ve long demanded proof that Trump committed a statutory criminal act (even though impeachment doesn’t require such a breach). But if indeed the question is “Where’s the crime,” then courtesy of the GAO, now we know.