US should withhold aid to Egypt to force government to take more serious steps toward human rights reform

The Trump administration should withhold military aid to Egypt to force the government towards a more “stable” human rights policy, Brian Dooley writes for The Hill. The disbursal of 15% of the US’s foreign military funding is directly tied to human rights reform. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Donald Trump have been getting heat from Congress members who believe that “Congress should strengthen democratic benchmarks and human rights conditions on US assistance for Egypt,” particularly since a 2016 US law mandates Tillerson to ensure that Egypt “is taking effective steps to protect freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including the ability of civil society organizations and the media to function without interference."