Senators rebuke Egypt as White House rolls out red carpet for Sisi
Congress is pushing the Donald Trump administration to take a tougher line on Egypt amid concerns that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will use this week’s White House visit to legitimize his efforts to extend his rule through 2034.
Congress is playing spoiler as the White House prepares to roll out the red carpet Tuesday for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the Egyptian leader looks to extend his rule for the next decade and a half.
Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively — led 15 of their colleagues in a letter today pushing back against Cairo. The bipartisan group asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to address “three pressing issues” with Sisi during his visit this week: the potential term-limit extension, Cairo’s pending purchase of Russian fighter jets and what senators said were “at least a dozen” US citizens “unjustly detained” in Egypt.
