Let’s explore a hypothetical. The aid under question was passed by Congress prior to the Ukrainian presidential election. Suppose that election had gone to a candidate who was a pro-Russian? Suppose further that newly elected pro-Russian Ukrainian President threw in with Vladamir Putin and joined him in his plans to reconstruct the Russian Empire, turned and with Russia militarily attacked their neighbors. Tell me, would President Trump still be obligated to expend those foreign aid military funds, sending javelin missiles, and support the new Ukraine regime, or would he be justified in making the decision to hold that aid in light of the change in international conditions?
This is the reason the Constitution put Foreign Affairs decisions in the hands of a single President and not in the hands of a committee. The fact is that international conditions can change overnight while Congressional decision act with the with the speed of an idling glacier.
Similarly, any acts of the Executive Branch, including the asserting that Ukraine’s military had taken the steps necessary to root-out corruption in their procurement procedures to approve the transfer of this military aid, are constitutionally merely advisory to the President, because all Executive Branch Acts are in the President’s name. They are NOT independent decisions or acts. The President has final authority under the Constitution. As Harry Truman ultimately understood, “The Buck Stops Here.” Not in Congress, who merely appropriates spending; not in the Defense Department, who advises its Commander in Chief; and not in the Department of the Treasury which cuts the checks; it always resides in the President. READ THE CONSTITUTION. None of those others is even mentioned. . . They are there to help the President do his job, not to do his job for him.
A rogue government under Obama and still a rogue government.