On Monday, the US online magazine, Politico, revealed that the US President Joe Biden suspended part of the US military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns, along with restricting the use of the rest of the aid.

Politico quoted a senior US official who said that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is thinking about using a regulation that allows him to suspend the aid totally regardless of congressional approval. Politico considered the suspension of a part of the $300 million – the part that is conditional on human rights progress – a compromise between the exponents and the opponents and added that the decision does not live up to the hopes of some senators and activists, who have great concerns over violations in Egypt. However, the decision is still better than the attitude of the previous administrations, according to Politico.

The US gives Egypt an annual total aid of $1.3 billion and Congress has made $300 million of it conditional on progress over human rights in Egypt, but the US Secretary of State has the authority to bypass the congressional condition, which is what happened with previous administrations.

Politico reported that the US administration will give Egypt $170 million out of the $300 million, linking the rest with progress over human rights. Politico reported that numerous democratic representatives encouraged the Biden administration to suspend all of the $300 million, and that the Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told Politico he is unsatisfied with the current compromise.