State not ready to denounce ‘coup’ in Egypt and cut aid

{mosads}Popular support for Morsi’s ouster is a “factor being discussed and considered” by the administration, she said. She said Secretary of State John Kerry has spent “dozens of hours” speaking with the military, the opposition and members of the Muslim Brotherhood over the past few days, even as his wife is ailing. 

Theresa Heinz Kerry was admitted to a hospital on over the weekend after exhibiting “seizure-like” symptoms, according to media reports. Her condition was upgraded on Monday to fair from critical, a spokesman for Kerry said.

Longtime foreign aid skeptics, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have been joined in recent days by past defenders of the assistance in calling on the administration to suspend aid to Egypt.

“It is difficult for me to conclude that what happened was anything other than a coup in which the military played a decisive role,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement Monday. “Current U.S. law is very clear about the implications for our foreign assistance in the aftermath of a military coup against an elected government, and the law offers no ability to waive its provisions. I do not want to suspend our critical assistance to Egypt, but I believe that is the right thing to do at this time.”

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