Trump cancels plan to cut billions in US foreign aid
US President Donald Trump has scrapped a plan to freeze more than $4 billion in foreign aid funding disapproved by Congress.
Trump, who had described foreign aid as wasteful spending and wanted to cancel the already-appropriated funds without congressional approval, dropped a planned rescission package on Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and several GOP lawmakers had warned Trump against the move saying it would be detrimental to national security.
In a letter Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the foreign aid cuts Trump had been pursuing violated “the good faith” of that bipartisan deal-making.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter that he hoped Trump "learned the lesson not to play games with the budget."
However, the president’s acting budget director, Russ Vought, and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had both urged Trump to go ahead with the planned aid cut.
Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid funding, receiving nearly $3 billion in grants each year.
US lawmakers opposed to the spending urged a stop to US foreign aid to Israel.
On Monday, Muslim Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called on the the Trump administration and Congress to reconsider the budget spent on the Tel Aviv regime.
She said the billions of dollars of US aid to Israel, which is engaged in oppression of the Palestinian people, should be cut.
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