Longtime White House budget official expected to testify in impeachment inquiry

Mark Sandy, a career employee at the White House Office of Management and Budget, is expected to testify behind closed doors Saturday in the House impeachment inquiry, The Washington Post reports.

The White House has ordered administration officials not to participate in the inquiry, and other OMB employees have ignored congressional subpoenas to appear before lawmakers, including Russell T. Vought, the agency's acting director. Most inquiry witnesses have been served with subpoenas right before their depositions are slated to begin, and Sandy's attorney Barbara Van Gelder said on Thursday evening, "If he is subpoenaed, he will appear."

Sandy has worked in the OMB on and off for 10 years, during Democratic and Republican administrations, and could likely answer questions about the decision made this summer to hold up $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. Sandy was one of several OMB staffers who had questions about the hold up, people familiar with the situation told the Post, and part of his job was to sign documents related to the matter. He signed one piece of paper in July, they said, but after that, a political appointee in the OMB, Mike Duffey, took over the process of approving and denying funds. Duffey has ignored a subpoena to testify.

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