Trump backs off plan to roll back foreign aid funding - officials

By Patricia Zengerle and Lesley Wroughton

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner to honor evangelical leadership in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. August 27, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration backed off on Tuesday on plans to bypass Congress and roll back billions of dollars from the U.S. foreign aid budget after lawmakers pushed back, senators, congressional aides and U.S. officials said.

 

Reuters reported on Aug. 16 that the White House Office of Management and Budget had asked the State Department and Agency for International Development to submit information for a "rescission" package that would have led to sharp cuts in foreign assistance.

 

Rescissions cut money appropriated by Congress but not spent. The unusual plan from Mick Mulvaney, the former Republican congressman who heads the OMB, would have defied Congress by eliminating foreign assistance it had already approved.

 

Trump's focus on his "America First" agenda has meant fewer funds for foreign aid. His administration has pushed repeatedly to cut the amount of money sent abroad since he took office in January 2017.

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the administration at a meeting on Tuesday to abandon the plan in the face of congressional opposition, several sources with knowledge of the situation said. It was a rare pushback against a Trump policy by fellow Republicans, who control Congress.

 

An OMB spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said cutting a relatively small amount of foreign aid funding made no sense from an administration planning huge spending increases.

 

He speculated that the White House hoped the suggestion would "rev up" its base before November's congressional elections but realized pushing the scheme would make it hard to work with angry lawmakers.

 

"I think they just kind of sat down and realized maybe that wasn't so smart, and ... they were right," Corker told Reuters.

 

Several administration officials had said the OMB was targeting some $3.5 billion in funds no longer needed for their original purpose, taking advantage of a loophole in the law to make cuts at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

 

The cuts could have included more than $200 million Trump froze in March for recovery efforts in Syria.

 

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, welcomed the decision.

 

"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," Leahy said in a statement.

 

Trump sought to slash foreign aid in this year's budget, but he ended up signing a budget without those cuts after Congress objected.

 

The administration then tried to use the rescission process to slash $15 billion in domestic spending, including $7 billion for children's health insurance. That plan did not pass Congress.

 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-29

The US is the only country in the world that actually donate many billions in cash and other assistance, directly or indirectly, to many countries, entities and groups around the world while many of these recipients openly project their hatred and disdain of America, and i f were Trump, any of said recipients would have got one penny from the US...

40 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The US is the only country in the world that actually donate many billions in cash and other assistance, directly or indirectly, to many countries, entities and groups around the world while many of these recipients openly project their hatred and disdain of America, and i f were Trump, any of said recipients would have got one penny from the US...

Utter hogwash.

 

America is by no means the only nation making donations of foreign aid.

 

And yes many people despise aspects of American foreign policies and actions, many of those people are Americans. Hardly surprising some non Americans think likewise.

 

You also fail to mention the huge numbers of people around the world who look up to America and its values.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_development_aid_country_donors

 

American foreign aid has been a huge force for good in the world, unlike America’s wars and military support to terrorists and opressive regimes.

 

Away with you and your utterly false claims.

Edited August 29, 20187 yr by Chomper Higgot

Since WWII, the US has more or less been the nation that has taken the lead in promoting democracy, and providing assistance to other nations as a means to project influence, aid, and maintain a world order. Reaching out has been quite successful. Now, Tiny Don is attempting to sabotage all of that, with his inward thinking, his paranoia, his fear, his extreme hatred of all things that are not American, and his loathing. Fortunately,, now that he has been outed as a criminal, his influence is waning, and those within his own party feel emboldened to stand up to his policy of ignorance, hubris, arrogance, and his astounding lack of vision and intelligence. 

The world hates America and their people. s Time to stop giving money away to foreign countries that would just as soon cut our heads off. Give hundreds of millions to Gaza and whoever else so they can give bonuses to their martyrs. Just stupid to continue doing so.

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Since WWII, the US has more or less been the nation that has taken the lead in promoting democracy, and providing assistance to other nations as a means to project influence, aid, and maintain a world order. Reaching out has been quite successful. Now, Tiny Don is attempting to sabotage all of that, with his inward thinking, his paranoia, his fear, his extreme hatred of all things that are not American, and his loathing. Fortunately,, now that he has been outed as a criminal, his influence is waning, and those within his own party feel emboldened to stand up to his policy of ignorance, hubris, arrogance, and his astounding lack of vision and intelligence. 

Does that refer to invasions, bombing and the removal of the elected governments in countries that didn't suck up to the states? In the name of the US version of Democracy!

Ahhh poor Donald couldn’t mess with helpless people what’s a bulley to do after the spanking he received from his disrespect of John McCain he needs to hurt some one so he feels all big again

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

The US is the only country in the world that actually donate many billions in cash and other assistance, directly or indirectly, to many countries, entities and groups around the world while many of these recipients openly project their hatred and disdain of America, and i f were Trump, any of said recipients would have got one penny from the US...

There are plenty of nations with developed economies that give a higher percentage of their gross national income for developmental aid.

 Sweden – 1.40%

 Norway – 1.05%

 Luxembourg – 0.93%

 Denmark – 0.85%

 Netherlands – 0.76%

 United Kingdom – 0.71%

 Finland – 0.56%

  Switzerland – 0.52%

 Germany – 0.52%

 Belgium – 0.42%

 France – 0.37%

 Ireland – 0.36%

 Austria – 0.32%

 Canada – 0.28%

 New Zealand – 0.27%

 Australia – 0.27%

 Iceland – 0.24%

 Japan – 0.22%

 Italy – 0.21%

 United States – 0.17%

 

x

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

The US is the only country in the world that actually donate many billions in cash and other assistance, directly or indirectly, to many countries, entities and groups around the world while many of these recipients openly project their hatred and disdain of America, and i f were Trump, any of said recipients would have got one penny from the US...

Mmmmm, Kool aid.

1 hour ago, Jimbo1964 said:

Does that refer to invasions, bombing and the removal of the elected governments in countries that didn't suck up to the states? In the name of the US version of Democracy!

A totally different issue.

 

But pleas feel free to compare the outcome of US foreign aid with that of US military invasions, bombings etc.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Rescissions cut money appropriated by Congress but not spent. The unusual plan from Mick Mulvaney, the former Republican congressman who heads the OMB, would have defied Congress by eliminating foreign assistance it had already approved.

There's another half to this story.

Where the administration doesn't spend funds authorized by Congress, it can't re-appropriate unspent funds (use foreign aide for US infrastructure) "willy nilly" without Congressional approval. I'm sure Secretaries of Treasury, Commerce and State know the budgetary process but doubtful Trump bothers to consult with any cabinet member or get any resistance from them.

US aid and support to the spread of  Ebola is an example of how important foreign aid is, not just to the recipients of the aid but to everyone.

 

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Since WWII, the US has more or less been the nation that has taken the lead in promoting democracy, and providing assistance to other nations as a means to project influence, aid, and maintain a world order. Reaching out has been quite successful. Now, Tiny Don is attempting to sabotage all of that, with his inward thinking, his paranoia, his fear, his extreme hatred of all things that are not American, and his loathing. Fortunately,, now that he has been outed as a criminal, his influence is waning, and those within his own party feel emboldened to stand up to his policy of ignorance, hubris, arrogance, and his astounding lack of vision and intelligence. 

Hope they continue so they gain some credibility. 

19 hours ago, webfact said:

The administration then tried to use the rescission process to slash $15 billion in domestic spending, including $7 billion for children's health insurance. That plan did not pass Congress.

Scum, filthy swamp dwellers-time for extinction 

On 8/29/2018 at 2:43 AM, ezzra said:

The US is the only country in the world that actually donate many billions in cash and other assistance, directly or indirectly, to many countries, entities and groups around the world while many of these recipients openly project their hatred and disdain of America, and i f were Trump, any of said recipients would have got one penny from the US...

Where on earth do you get the notion the USA is the only country to donate aid to other nations, entities and groups?