Congress is playing spoiler as the White House prepares to roll out the red carpet Tuesday for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the Egyptian leader looks to extend his rule for the next decade and a half.
Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively — led 15 of their colleagues in a letter today pushing back against Cairo. The bipartisan group asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to address “three pressing issues” with Sisi during his visit this week: the potential term-limit extension, Cairo’s pending purchase of Russian fighter jets and what senators said were “at least a dozen” US citizens “unjustly detained” in Egypt.
