Trump's Proposed Aid Cut In Diplomacy Spending, Foreign Assistance To Hurt US: Lawmakers

US lawmakers are once again likely to oppose a proposed cut in spending on diplomacy and foreign aid by President Trump, fearing it will hurt America's global interests and provide leverage to rival superpowers, China and Russia, an online political magazine reported on Tuesday

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Feb, 2018 ) :US lawmakers are once again likely to oppose a proposed cut in spending on diplomacy and foreign aid by President Trump, fearing it will hurt America's global interests and provide leverage to rival superpowers, China and Russia, an online political magazine reported on Tuesday.' President Trump is again demanding to slash spending on diplomacy and foreign assistance by nearly 30% to $41.7 billion in fiscal 2019, from an enacted level of $59.6 billion in the fiscal year 2017, the POLITICO magazine reported, but observed that lawmakers were likely to ignore him again, the way they did it when he sought a similar cut last year.

Instead of channeling through the US State Department and USAID agency, Trump want to provide direct money to Pentagon, but his proposed cut was likely to face stiff resistance from Congress.'"A strong, bipartisan coalition in Congress has already acted once to stop deep cuts to the State Department and Agency for International Development that would have undermined our national security.

This year, we will act again," the magazine quoted Republican Senator Ed Royce, as saying. Royce, from Trump's party, chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At a US State Department briefing, officials indicated that the general message for this budget was to restrain non-defense discretionary spending, a reference to money the US State Department spend on diplomacy and through USAID.

The proposed cut will result in a cut in allocations for many countries which receive US aid, including Pakistan.'A senior State Department official, who was present at the briefing, however, told a questioner that the department have funded only about 10 of US critical power and Pakistan was among them.

"'This shows the importance of Pakistan as a major security partner for us." It may be mentioned here, that for now, US is withhold all security assistance to Pakistan for an alleged lack of cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Islamabad has already rejected the US accusation, saying it was taking actions against all terrorist groups. US lawmakers had also opposed cut in funding to the US State Department last year and Congressman Eliot Engel of New York, a ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged his fellow lawmakers to make sure that the budget proposal by Trump is "dead on arrival".

'"The bottom line is that these cuts would make us less safe'They are a gift to countries like Russia and China who are already filling the void left by America's diminishing role in the world,"'he said in a statement while commenting on the proposed cut by President Trump.

' According to the POLITICO report, Trump's proposals is another blow to the morale of the US State Department, "where many diplomats have felt marginalized and undervalued by the administration".

The report also observed that'Secretary of State Rex'Tillerson's'unwillingness to challenge the White House on the budget has hurt his credibility among career staffers at State. Among the critics is Melinda Gates, the wife of billionaire US businessman Bill Gates, who expressed concern about'"underfunding" of family planning and other health programs.' "When we cut funding for the programs that are keeping women and children alive, it sends a signal to the world that we do not care about their lives or futures," the report quoted her as saying in a statement.