Congress slams Trump proposal to reduce military aid
Key lawmakers of both parties vow to fight effort to shift aid from grants to loans.
President Donald Trump's budget blueprint is running into a buzzsaw of opposition from lawmakers who fear it would hamstring US diplomatic tools, particularly in the Middle East.
House and Senate members of both parties have vowed to prevent the president's proposed 28% cut to the State Department and foreign aid. But they also object to a specific provision to convert some military assistance from grants to loans.
Such a change would have a disproportionate impact on the Middle East, where key counterterrorism allies such as Jordan and Egypt receive hundreds of millions of dollars every year to buy US weapons. US assistance to Israel, which is guaranteed by a 10-year memorandum of understanding, would remain unchanged.
