Congress rejected the Donald Trump administration’s proposed cuts to Middle East aid today, in some cases even voting to increase assistance over the current year’s budget.
While the State Department request for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 sought deep cuts across the board, members of the House foreign aid spending panel made clear they wouldn’t be touching aid to key US allies such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. In addition, the House state and foreign operations bill released today makes clear that the administration's proposal to turn some foreign military financing grants into loans is also a nonstarter.