US lawmakers push back against more aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Pledges for sustained US military aid for Arab countries could face pushback from lawmakers, Ellen Mitchell writes in The Hill. The news came after US Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ pledges of continued support to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “There’s always elements within the Congress that have different views on different countries, but there isn’t a bipartisan consensus on any of these guys — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt,” James Carafano, a foreign and defense policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said.