The US administration decided to restore the program of financing foreign aid, including assistance to Armenia in 2019, Voice of America reported.
The Trump administration has abandoned the idea of reducing external financing, which implies the restoration of frozen foreign aid in the amount of $ 4 billion.
As for US aid in 2020, including the allocation of funds for Armenia and Armenian programs, discussions on them will continue in the US Senate in September, when the US Congress will return from vacation. This also applies to the amendment of the bill on the provision of $ 40 million for Armenia and the mine clearance program for Nagorno-Karabakh.
President Trump’s administration sought to stop funding foreign aid programs, calling them unnecessary and meaningless, and froze the $ 4 billion appropriation already approved by Congress.
According to political analyst Emil Sanamyan, the process of disbursing funds in the USA is rather complicated: first, the administration makes a proposal, then the bill on foreign aid is discussed by two houses of Congress, an agreement is reached, and finally, the president signs or does not sign the bill.
But the White House abandoned the idea of freezing and cutting foreign aid after it became clear that a number of senior parliamentarians opposed the idea. Both Democrats and Republicans opposed a cut in funds approved by Congress.
This administration wants to spend as little as possible on foreign aid programs, exerting political pressure to achieve maximum reductions,” Sanamyan added.
The administration expressed dissatisfaction with the position of US congressmen. The White House said it is clear that many congressmen do not support efforts to end meaningless spending.
US House Speaker Democrat Nancy Pelosi said a suspension of aid would undermine the parties' confidence in the budget approval process.
Two influential Republican parliamentarians, Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Hal Rogers, in their turn, said freezing foreign aid would harm national security and counter-terrorism efforts, and would create problems during budget talks between the White House and Congress.
