US lawmakers blocking critical funding for Haiti mission
Motorists pass by a burning barricade during a protest as the government said it would extend a state of emergency for another month after an escalation in violence from gangs seeking to oust the Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 7, 2024.
Congressional aides said the money being held could prevent deployment of the Kenyan police force to Haiti, unless another country stepped up to fill in the gap.
The $40 million would cover costs essential to the mission.
U.S. lawmakers are refusing to release millions of dollars in funding that Washington views as critical to help tackle spiraling violence in Haiti, in another potential stumbling block for the international force.
Representatives Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on Senate Foreign Relations, have both put "holds" on $40 million requested by the U.S. State Department, warning the administration they need "a lot more details" before it gets more funding.
