Posted on 09/17/2017 5:05:23 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
The U.S. State Department has backed away from a demand that Israel return $75 million in military aid which was allocated to it by the U.S. Congress.
The repayment demand, championed by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was described as an underhanded attempt by the State Department to derail a campaign pledge by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to improve relations with the Jewish state.
The dispute is the just the latest example of what appears to be a growing power struggle between the State Department and the White House over the future direction of American foreign policy.
The controversy goes back to the Obama administration's September 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel, which pledged $38 billion in military assistance to Jerusalem over the next decade. The MOU expressly prohibits Israel from requesting additional financial aid from Congress.
Congressional leaders, who said the MOU violates the constitutional right of lawmakers to allocate U.S. aid, awarded Israel an additional $75 million in assistance in the final appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017.
Tillerson had argued that Israel should return the $75 million in order to stay within the limits established by the Obama administration. The effort provoked a strong reaction from Congress, which apparently prompted Tillerson to back down. (Excerpt.....continued)
If Tillerson can't get rid of the Deep State inside the State Department then his worthless fat rear end needs to be fired too.
“The controversy goes back to the Obama administration’s September 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel, which pledged $38 billion in military assistance to Jerusalem over the next decade. The MOU expressly prohibits Israel from requesting additional financial aid from Congress.
Congressional leaders, who said the MOU violates the constitutional right of lawmakers to allocate U.S. aid, awarded Israel an additional $75 million in assistance in the final appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017.”
Disgraceful act by Congress to give a huge sum of money to Israel, against an agreement already made, on top of the billions a year in welfare Israel gets from the American taxpayer already.
Congress is basically being extorted by the Israel lobby.
End welfare payments to Israel.
Forget about it? So you would let the corrupt Deep Sate win.
Recommend a review of the budget - if any employee is being paid to use the HOV lanes beyond the $200 dollers given for DC bus/metro fares - revoke those monies which can easily exceed $200 weekly.
Full review of the Clinton policy to hire homosexual nonmarried spouses/mates and provided housing as this may well be an Unfunded Expenditure which then means monies are taken elsewhere in the line item budget leaving areas of Congressionally mandated funding broken.
15,000 Foreign Service Officer/Specialist ceiling must be immediately drawn down from the current overages which exceed 17,500.
Any sister agency personnel who oppose Presidental Appointee oversign sent back to their agency.
Business Class travel is being abused now worst than when it was merely a Scandal in the newspapers - impose only the Assistant Secretary for Admin personally permit such excessive and abusive financial practices.
Stop Work from Home for many administrative employees - I personally know of a situation one employee who backs up the incumbent who cannot work from home as the back up but the incumbent does....
Immediately suspend foreign service officers filling positions that work for the UNION at Main State.
Continue to review travel for death/sickness in the family which has been in the past abused by certain employees who change posts semi-annually or every three years who state their father/mother/brother/sister has died sometimes up to 4 times per family member over their careers - prosecute them under federal law if their personal file shows this abuse.
Link all air travel to personnel file to make available to managers transparently who is abusing Business/First Class travel.
Hell!! Transfer them to an empty federal building in Oklahoma or Missouri and sit them at an empty desk with no work to be performed. That will at least minimize their potential for damage and get them the hell out of DC.
If they don't like it they always have the option to quit.
Foggy Bottom is the center of the Swamp.
Smells like BS. Could this be FAKE NEWS?
This is exactly why we need all of these people - GONE!
...decades of experience and institutional knowledge ... that will be needed to ...ensure that the federal government doesn't fall apart.
That is exactly what we need to happen. Let the federal agencies fall apart and then rebuild appropriately.
Newt Gingrich should have been SOS. Rudy should have been AG.
That’s pretty much how it is.
I’m surprised the few pearl-clutchers don’t get it. This job is way bigger than any one man. People expected a bureaucracy built over decades to be completely-fixed in 8 months. All while the liberals attack with every false narrative, with the MSM and HollyBabylonWood from ever angle.
Let’s fire Swamp Members first - that’s MOST of the State Department...
Their reward is coming. Is that Tony Blair in the lower left? If so, it’s pretty accurate to have him in there. He is well-positioned to declare “peace” for 7 years.
No, but it has gotten so bad. I don’t believe any one person can make much of a dent.
[ This from an overwhelmingly leftist State Department that has tried to destroy American sovereignty ]
IOW, a perfect place for Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.
*** “Sadly, only those who are appointed can be fired. Union rules protect the rest” ***
May not be able to fire them ... but you can transfer them
State Dept. always seems to be anti-Israel, no matter who is POTUS.
The repayment demand, championed by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was described as an underhanded attempt by the State Department to derail a campaign pledge by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to improve relations with the Jewish state.
WTF
A rogue career guy at state invents a BS story about Tillerson and Israel...at the behest of his neocon friends in the Orthodox Conservative Commentariat.
And then we have nattering nabobs of negativity on FR taking it as gospel and pissin’ themselves like old women.
...and it’s doubtful Tillerson even knows about a measly $75 million. They are making an “incident” out of nothing.
The fact that anyone believes them is what’s getting out of control.
This is all bullshit disinformation and obfuscation.
You folks have to wise up and realize we are involved in Unconditional Information Warfare. There are impressively strong centers of power in the US Government bent on using every tool and trick at their disposal to prevail. And we’re paying their salaries!
They believe their cheese is at stake with a Trump admin.
And they are proud of their work...you know, like how they have totally screwed up the whole friggin’ world.
It’s us or them.
Tokyo, dude, why do you believe them?
The airplane is losing altitude, an engine is on fire, she’s nearly out of fuel, and mountains are ahead.
I’m glad Trump is pilot and not Hillary, but at this point, we’re not flying over the mountains. A survivable crash landing is the best case scenario.
Didn’t he lobby the President hard on staying in the Paris Global warming fiasco? I started out very impressed by him, but now wouldn’t at all care if he left.
Sessions stood next to then President-elect Trump knowing FULL WELL he intended to recuse himself. He was deceitful and dishonorable, at best.
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