WASHINGTON — House Republicans sought to put their stamp on U.S. foreign policy Wednesday by advancing a bill that would slash federal payments to the United Nations and other international bodies and slap restrictions on aid to Pakistan, Egypt and others.
With the bill, the House Foreign Affairs Committee sought to rein in some of President Barack Obama’s policies and to slice $6.4 billion from his $51 billion request for 2012 for the State Department and foreign operations.
The measure’s passage was foregone because of the panel’s Republican majority. Even if it passes the full House, though, the bill is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate, where the Democratic majority is preparing a State Department authorization bill of its own.
Still, the bill could signal to lawmakers how to shape the appropriations bill, a separate piece of legislation that determines where the money actually goes.
