Presidents of both political parties have withheld foreign aid for a variety of legitimate reasons…President Obama withheld aid to foreign countries on multiple occasions.
· THE NEW YORK TIMES: “The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively.”
· THE GUARDIAN: “The Obama administration is poised to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Egypt”
· President Obama directed federal agencies to end assistance to countries that failed to promote and protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals.
o In 2014, President Obama cut aid to Uganda after the country passed a law harshly penalizing homosexuality.
President George W. Bush suspended aid to foreign countries during his tenure.
· The Bush administration withheld military assistance to dozens of countries because they refused to protect the sovereignty of American citizens from the International Criminal Court.
President Carter also withheld foreign aid over human rights concerns.
· THE NEW YORK TIMES: “The Carter Administration had decided to reduce military aid to Argentina because of the widespread charges of the killing of political opponents by the military regime…”