The White House blew through a Friday deadline to justify its decision to freeze $105 million in US military aid for Lebanon to Congress, two congressional aides told Al-Monitor. The administration of President Donald Trump has not explained the controversial move to Congress in repeated meetings.
Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., asked Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to provide a rationale for the hold, and whether the White House consulted the State and Defense Departments before making the decision.