Benghazi

GOP Senators Threaten Embassy Security Funding

Written by SK Ashby

Remember Benghazi? Republicans apparently don't.

A group of Republican senators have introduced a bill that would cut funding for embassy security if the U.S. embassy in Israel isn't moved to Jerusalem.

The bill introduced Tuesday by Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ted Cruz of Texas would remove the presidential waiver from the 1995 law passed by Congress recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and mandating the move from Tel Aviv.

The bill would slash in half the funds that Congress disburses to the State Department for building, securing and maintaining embassies until the embassy opens in Jerusalem.

Of course, as you know, this wouldn't be the first time Republicans have cut embassy security funding.

Republicans blamed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for not properly securing the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, but it was congressional Republicans who cut funding for state department security by $300 million.

Moving the American embassy to Jerusalem will present its own problems that threaten security not just in Israel but across the globe. Despot-elect Donald Trump has a penchant for insulting the entire world (save for Russia) and Senators Rubio, Heller, and Cruz are playing with fire.

One needn't step out onto a long limb to predict that Republicans won't spend a significant amount of time investigating the next Benghazi, if they spend any time at all.

It should probably be noted that if Republicans actually go through with their fiscal plans and promises, cuts to state department funding will be a foregone conclusion regardless of the physical location of our embassies.