The White House announced Monday that Vice President Mike Pence is delaying a planned trip to the Middle East in case his vote is needed to pass tax legislation – a move that also comes amid uproar over the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Yerushalayim as the capital of Israel.
Pence was scheduled to leave Tuesday night, arriving in Egypt on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi. From there he was scheduled to visit Israel before traveling to Germany to meet with U.S. troops stationed there.
Pence’s office said Monday the trip was being delayed so he can stay in Washington until votes on the tax-cut legislation are completed. He is now expected to travel to the Middle East during the week of Jan. 14, according to senior White House officials.
“The largest tax cut in American history is a landmark accomplishment for President Trump and a relief to millions of hardworking Americans,” said Pence’s press secretary Alyssa Farah. “The Vice President is committed to seeing the tax cut through to the finish line. The Vice President looks forward to traveling to Egypt and Israel in January.”
Pence could potentially break a tie vote in the Senate on the tax bill, but that scenario become more remote on Monday after Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced her support for the bill.
A senior official said Monday that even though “the tax vote is still in very good shape,” the last-minute failure of health-care reform legislation in July – following an unexpected thumbs down from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. – taught the White House not to take any votes for granted until they have actually been cast.
The delay comes on the same day that the United States blocked a Security Council resolution at the United Nations that would have rejected Trump’s recognition of Yerushalayim as Israel’s capital. Egypt called for the resolution, which did not name the United States or Trump but expressed “deep regret at certain decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem,” and asserted that “Jerusalem is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations.” This was the Trump administration’s first Security Council veto, and all 14 other members supported the resolution, underscoring the U.S. isolation on the issue.
A senior official said that high-profile protests of Trump’s decision were not a factor in delaying the trip.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Jenna Johnson
{Matzav.com}
