By Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The White House will not moveforward with plans to cut billions of dollars in foreign aid,U.S. officials said on Thursday, after an outcry from Congressabout what was seen as an attempt to sidestep lawmakers'authority over government spending.
President Donald Trump said he was considering scaling backthe effort to cut aid on Tuesday, and would decide on theproposal within days.
Members of Congress, including several of Trump’s fellowRepublicans as well as Democrats, had contacted administrationofficials to object to the latest Trump administration effort tocut foreign assistance and tie it more closely to support forU.S. policies.
"I’m glad to see important foreign assistance programs -which Congress had already approved - going forward," RepublicanJim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,said in a statement.
"I share the president’s concerns about waste, fraud, andabuse across some of these programs and I look forward toworking with him on that issue in the future."
A senior administration official said Trump "has been clearthat there is waste and abuse in our foreign assistance and weneed to be wise about where U.S money is going, which is why heasked his administration to look into options to doing justthat."
"It's clear that there are many on the Hill who aren'twilling to join in curbing wasteful spending," the officialadded.
Administration officials this month briefly froze StateDepartment and U.S. Agency for International Developmentspending with an eye to using a budget process known as"rescission" to slash up to $4.3 billion in spending alreadyapproved by the Senate and House of Representatives.
The White House tried a similar strategy last year anddropped that plan too amid congressional resistance.
Politico was the first to report on Thursday that therescission package would not move forward.
ADMINISTRATION DIVIDE
Sources familiar with the discussions had said Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo argued in favor of the aid money, while MickMulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget,wanted the cuts.
At a news conference in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, Pompeodid not say there had been a decision, but acknowledged he had"been engaged in meetings" on the subject.
Total foreign aid accounts for less than 2 percent of thefederal budget, and the assistance being considered for cutsaccounts for an even smaller percentage.
Opponents of the plan argued that funding programs thatfight poverty, support education and promote global health areworthwhile investments that save on security costs in the longrun.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, wrote toTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday citing theGovernment Accountability Office's finding that such a use ofrescissions was not legal.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress, not the White House,controls spending.
Many sources said they expected the issue would end up incourt if Trump pressed ahead with it instead of working withCongress.
Lawmakers also said the plan - developed within weeks ofCongress' passing, and Trump signing into law, a two-year budgetdeal - could imperil lawmakers' future willingness to negotiatespending deals with the White House.
Advocacy groups welcomed the news.
"Americans can be pleased that the Administration recognizedthe importance of these vital foreign assistance programs forkeeping America safe and on the global playing field," LizSchrayer, president of U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, whichpromotes diplomacy and development, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Steve Hollland and Patricia Zengerle inWashington; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington andDavid Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Doina Chiacu and PatriciaZengerle; Editing Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney)