Over $3 Billion In Foreign Aid Is Safe… For Now

The 2018 fiscal year budget passed by Congress in late 2017 was under quiet assault recently as Trump's crew sought to cut any budgetd foreign aid not already spent.

The Trump administration’s plans to take back over $3 billion in congressionally allocated funds were killed Tuesday in a major win for foreign aid.

The planned rescissions targeted foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. State Department. The global development community saw the effort as a way for the Trump administration to circumvent Congress’ budgetary process and achieve a version of the foreign aid cuts initially proposed

Lawmakers from both parties had previously condemned the effort to “freeze” money that hadn’t been spent in the last days before the federal government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Under the rescission plan, whatever money was not spent would have been returned to the U.S. Treasury.

“Rescinding funds that had been agreed to by Congress and signed into law by the President, in the waning days of the fiscal year, would have set a terrible precedent and harmed programs that further United States interests around the world,” Senator  Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said. “For the appropriations process to function we need assurance that the Congress’s constitutional power of the purse will be respected.”

Global development experts were thrilled the rescission had not come to pass.

“Cutting critical foreign assistance programs could harm U.S. efforts to save lives, strengthen civil society, support good governance and create economic opportunity,” said Kevin Rachlin of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations.

But the goal of Trump, Mulvaney, and cronies is to drastically cut foreign aid is still very clear.  Just ask them.  It's only a matter of how and when they will try again.

Michelle Nunn, head of the international humanitarian agency CARE, said that while the rejection was a “major victory,” the global aid community is still left wondering if the president’s policies will ever align with Congress’ stance on foreign aid.  “How many times does Congress have to push back before the administration starts to work in a more cooperative way, with what is truly a bipartisan sensibility around international development, foreign affairs and diplomacy?”

Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/foreign-aid-rescission-mike-pompeo_us_5b859a0fe4b0162f471d1b61