CENTRAL AMERICA/DEMS/FOREIGN AID/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives committee moved on Thursday [5-9-19] toward restoring hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to Central America that was cut off by President Donald Trump, setting up a potential showdown with the White House. A House Appropriations subcommittee released a draft of its bill funding the State Department and foreign aid programs for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020, that rejects the Republican president’s proposals for steep cuts. It also seeks to influence policy, including by prohibiting funds from supporting the sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia and removing a Republican-led prohibition on contributions to the U.N. Green Climate Fund, and prohibits the use of funds to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The Trump administration said in March it would cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras after Trump blasted the three countries because thousands of their citizens had sought asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico.”
–Patricia Zengerle, “House seeks to restore Central American aid, defying Trump,” Reuters, May 9, 2019 10:30 am