The US Senate's Appropriations Committee submitted a bill which requires reducing aid to Egypt by almost US$400 million.
The draft law reduces US military aid destined for Egypt from 1.3 billion to one billion in addition to reducing the economic aid from $200 million to $150 million.
Senator Lindsey Graham said after the Appropriations Committee meeting on Wednesday that Egypt needs to move towards a democratic system, pointing out that the US wants to help Egypt is but Egypt needs to help itself first.
Graham added it was time for the Congress to reconsider aid.
The two countries experienced a cooling in relations after the ouster of Egypt's first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsy by the military. The US argued the move went against democratic values, though Egypt said the large turnout in the streets proved the military had popular support. The US then decided to suspend its annual aid to the Egyptian military when the multi-party talks to mediate the tense standoff with Morsy supporters in Rabaa al-Adaweya Square was cut short by the Egyptian military after it quickly moved to clear the square, killing almost 600 mostly unarmed protesters.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
