Congress sets up fight over aid to Egypt

House and Senate appropriators have taken sharply differing tacks regarding Egypt, setting up a cross-party battle on the future of US assistance.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote June 24 on an aid package that maintains military aid at current levels while giving the administration new powers to continue aid flows even in the case of a military coup. The equivalent Senate panel meanwhile voted last week to cut military aid by $300 million while creating new hurdles for the administration.

The sentencing of three journalists to lengthy prison terms on June 23, however, is prompting soul-searching on the House side.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is expected to offer an amendment on June 24 that would cut and restructure US aid to Egypt — slicing nearly a third from the security assistance package that is currently the centerpiece of that aid and putting much of the savings into economic assistance, including enhanced support for education, democracy and civil society programs, assistance for independent media and targeted aid for the Sinai Peninsula.