Trump backs off plan to roll back foreign aid funding

CAIRO – 29 August 2018: President Donald Trump's administration has backed off plans to bypass Congress and roll back billions of dollars from the U.S. foreign aid budget after stiff resistance from lawmakers, congressional aides and U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

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

"This is a welcome decision," Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.