Obama Administration Rules Out Suspension of Aid to Egypt in Near Term

The White House called on all sides in Egypt on Monday to refrain from violence and return to democracy but rejected an immediate cutoff of American assistance despite a law requiring the suspension of aid to countries after a military coup d’état.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, told reporters that the Obama administration would study the events in Egypt to determine whether the military seizing of power constitutes a military coup d’état under law. But he added that the administration planned to take its time in making such a determination and ruled out any suspension of aid in the near term.

“We think that would not be in our best interests,” Mr. Carney said. “We are going to examine this and monitor this and take the time necessary in making the determination in a manner that’s consistent with our policy objectives and our national security interests.”

He added, “But we do not believe that it is in our interests to make a precipitous decision or determination to change our assistance program right away.”

The White House hopes to use the leverage of $1.5 billion annual aid to Egypt to shape events without actually cutting it off, even as violence has spiraled in the days since the military forced out President Mohamed Morsi. Shutting down aid at this point, White House officials have said privately in recent days, would reduce their ability to forestall further violence and repression of dissent in Egypt.

President Obama has made no public comments about Egypt since Mr. Morsi’s ouster other than a written statement. On Monday he once again offered no assessment or advice about what is happening in Cairo and elsewhere in the country. In his only public appearance of the day, he talked about making government more efficient without mentioning the drama in the country that once was the most important American ally in the Arab world.

The Foreign Assistance Act says no aid other than that for democracy promotion can go to “any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup d’état,” or where the “the military plays a decisive role” in a coup. The law allows no presidential waiver, and it says that aid cannot be restored until “a democratically elected government has taken office.”

Since 1979, Egypt has been the second-largest recipient of American aid after Israel. Mr. Obama has proposed $1.3 billion in aid to the Egyptian military and another $250 million for economic aid in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. But the most recent transfer of military aid took place in May, so the next tranche would most likely not go to Egypt until early next year at the earliest.

Egyptian officials have argued that the military’s ouster of Mr. Morsi last week did not constitute a military coup because it came in response to millions of Egyptians who had flooded into the streets protesting the government run by Muslim Brotherhood figures. They added that the military installed a civilian interim president.

Mr. Carney suggested that argument would weigh on the administration as it determined whether to invoke the aid cutoff law.

“President Obama made clear our deep concern about the decision made by the Egyptian armed forces to remove President Morsi from power and to suspend the constitution,” he said. “It is also important to acknowledge that tens of millions of Egyptians have legitimate grievances with President Morsi’s undemocratic form of government - governance - and they do not believe that this was a coup. Indeed, they were demanding a new government.”

Mr. Carney repeated that the United States was not taking sides but called on the military to refrain from force and the Muslim Brotherhood to avoid violence. “We also call on all political parties and movements to remain engaged in dialogue and to commit to participating in a political process to hasten the return of full authority to a democratically elected government,” he said.