The White House abandons its attempt to cancel foreign aid in Trump's policy change

by



[ad_1]

A familiar source told CNN that President Donald Trump had decided not to follow through on this plan. This decision represents another change of course on the part of the White House on a major political front.
With his quest for cuts in foreign aid canceled, Trump also conceded one of the last remaining battles of the year to demonstrate that his administration had attempted to remedy the growing deficit. Earlier this summer, he agreed to sign a budget deal with much larger spending increases and less compensation than his team sought through negotiations. insured Republican support for the deal was acceptable because "there is always plenty of time for CUT!"

Bipartite lawmakers and foreign policy advocates opposed the planned draft resolution that could have cut $ 4 billion from state department and US Agency for Development funds. international.

"The president was clear on the fact that our foreign aid was fat and that we needed to know where American money was going, which is why he asked the administrator to look for solutions to this effect.It is clear that there is the hill who are not willing to join the reduction of unnecessary expenses, "said the manager.

Two sources told CNN that a meeting on the resolution package had taken place Thursday at the White House. This meeting included the White House Acting Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, Russell Vought, Deputy Director of the OMB, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an assistant to the Congress.

The Trump administration sought to reduce what it saw as unnecessary spending and make foreign aid more dependent on support from US policies. White House officials thought they had the power to cancel the funds already assigned without congressional approval.

If the administration had pushed the resolution package forward, legislators may have tried to replenish the money in the next round of budget negotiations in the fall, which could have been a turning point before 30 September deadline to prevent a new government closure.

Strong opposition

Behind the scenes, congressional representatives from both parties and representatives of the State Department lobbied the White House to cancel the planned cuts. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho, has been discussing the issue in recent weeks with Trump and cabinet members, said the congressional aide. Risch has also joined his fellow foreign committee leaders in a letter opposing a possible cancellation of funds.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, wrote to Mnuchin Friday asking him to "work within the administration to end this resolution proposed by the (Office of Government Responsibilities) as unlawful, which violates the good faith of our budget negotiations is ill-advised and goes beyond the most fundamental constitutional power of Congress. "

Opponents of the movement also warned of the impact of cuts to national security and US foreign policy goals. Last week, a senior administration official told CNN that the resolution measures provided funds to the United Nations – including peacekeeping funds – for the North Triangle countries: Honduras Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as cultural programs.

Politico was the first to point out that the resolution program would not go forward.

This is another setback for the president regarding political negotiations with Hill.

Trump introduced this month a tax reform measure on capital gains – indexing the tax on inflation – to call it "somewhat elitist" a day later. He said Tuesday that he was planning to reduce payroll taxes, a few hours after White House officials told reporters that such a reduction was not contemplated and a day before he had stated that he was not considering tax cuts. And he sent conflicting signals about gun control – claiming that he still had an "appetite" for stricter background checks on firearm sales after it was over. 39 to be retracted in private and before stressing that the United States had already put in place strong background checks.

For the second year in a row, the OMB has attempted to introduce a cancellation program. The plan was also dropped last year following a wave of widespread retaliation, including from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo was questioned to find out if he would support a resolution program shortly after the announcement of his absence. He seemed unaware that a decision had been made, but he indicated that he "had attended meetings" on the subject and that they "were working on it even this morning".

"What I've always said with regard to every penny spent by the State Department, including our overseas assistance budget, is that we have to do things well. We need to make sure we use them effectively, we think the American interests are represented in the way we spend that money, and that certainly includes our foreign aid program, "he said. he said at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday.

Liz Schrayer, chair of the US Global Leadership Council, said in a statement that "after weeks of internal deliberations, smart politics has clearly won the battle."

"Americans can be pleased that the Administration has recognized the importance of these vital foreign assistance programs to keep the United States safe and on the global playing field," he said. she declared.

CNN's Kylie Atwood, Michael Conte and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link