⚡️🇺🇸🇵🇦🇵🇪🇪🇨🇨🇴 — The Trump administration has overridden holds placed by senior Democrats on the House and Senate foreign affairs committees, diverting $52 million in U.S. military assistance previously approved for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, according to three U.S. officials. The State Department notified Congress of the intended reprogramming in September, prompting Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Gregory Meeks to place a statutory hold. Late Wednesday, the administration formally notified Congress it was proceeding despite the congressional block, with officials speaking anonymously to discuss security matters. — The Washington Post.

Shaheen and Meeks communicated to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the bypass breached their hold and statutory restrictions on fund usage. The lawmakers argued allocations for Slovakia and North Macedonia were legally constrained as part of a 2022 Ukraine supplemental measure explicitly restricted to nations affected by Russia’s invasion:

“Both chambers of Congress provided these funds for a very specific purpose: supporting Ukraine and our European allies in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion,” they wrote, adding that “The Executive Branch does not have unlimited discretion to redirect these funds toward unrelated Administration policy priorities or countries.”

➡️ The Iraq and Tunisia funds derived from separate legislation exempt from the Ukraine-specific restrictions, though the redirection occurs during a sensitive geopolitical window for Baghdad amid regional conflict involving Iran and the September 2026 U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. The State Department defended the reprogramming as compliant with national security strategies, stating:

“Reprogramming money away from Middle East and Europe to the Western Hemisphere is consistent with the National Security Strategy,” asserting the funds would combat regional narco-terrorism, secure the Panama Canal, strengthen U.S. security partnerships, and counter adversary military influence.

➡️ Congress originally approved the broader funding package in 2022 to pressure European states to arm Kyiv and urge non-European states to sever arms-sales ties with Moscow, incentivizing foreign governments transferring legacy weapons to Ukraine to procure U.S. military hardware instead of Russian systems. Democratic staffers challenged State Department officials on how the Latin American reallocation satisfied statutory language limiting funds to countries “impacted by the situation in Ukraine.” Shaheen and Meeks stated the administration failed to provide justification during briefings or in subsequent written responses, noting officials confirmed Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru have provided no meaningful security assistance to Ukraine or affected European allies.

➡️ In September, Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to advance administration priorities on counternarcotics and illegal immigration. Ecuador and Peru remain key regional partners due to strict compliance with U.S. requests for aggressive anti-drug cooperation. The strategic pivot reflects an executive renewal of the Monroe Doctrine to achieve hemisphere domination and exclude rival powers, with Rubio stating the administration's policy will concentrate targeted resources on previously missed opportunities and neglected partners.

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