The State Department is reviewing a last-minute decision by former Secretary of State John Kerry to send $221 million dollars to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans.
The department said Tuesday it would look at the payment, one of the Obama administration's final acts in office, and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration's priorities.
Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday morning, just hours before President Donald Trump's inauguration.
"I was tracking President Obama's 11th-hour moves on the Palestinians, and this issue never came up once ... Most analysts and observers didn't think Obama would or could do this," Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Business Insider.
Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, with the US Agency for International Development sending the Palestinians $355 million in 2015.
But at least two GOP lawmakers Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee had placed holds on the funds as the Palestinian Authority had pursued "a unilateral tract towards statehood and they were not trying to work with Israel," said Schanzer.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trump-administration-frozen-obama-quiet-195211333.html
The department said Tuesday it would look at the payment, one of the Obama administration's final acts in office, and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration's priorities.
Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday morning, just hours before President Donald Trump's inauguration.
"I was tracking President Obama's 11th-hour moves on the Palestinians, and this issue never came up once ... Most analysts and observers didn't think Obama would or could do this," Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Business Insider.
Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, with the US Agency for International Development sending the Palestinians $355 million in 2015.
But at least two GOP lawmakers Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee had placed holds on the funds as the Palestinian Authority had pursued "a unilateral tract towards statehood and they were not trying to work with Israel," said Schanzer.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trump-administration-frozen-obama-quiet-195211333.html
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