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The official, speaking on background, said that Secretary of
State Antony Blinken made the decision following more than 100
briefings to Congress by the State Department and that the Biden
administration remained committed to working in "close
consultation" with that body.
"The security situation in Haiti remains untenable due to
violence perpetrated by violent gangs, and the people of Haiti
cannot wait," the official said.
The funds include $95 million for security mission support and
$15 million to the Haitian National Police to counter gang
violence.
"The Biden Administration's choice to override the hold I had
placed on U.S. taxpayer funding for the ill-conceived Haiti MSS
(Multinational Security Support Mission) is extremely
disappointing," Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
Risch and Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman
of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said
in March they had put "holds" on funds to Haiti because they
needed "a lot more details" before approving them.
The State Department said at the time it was engaging with
Congress to get approval for the funds, seen as essential for
the deployment of Kenyan police in the Caribbean nation, where
spiraling gang violence has cut off food supplies and forced
hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Leaders of the foreign relations committees have approval power
over the money, but the administration can override their holds
if it decides a situation is extreme enough to warrant going
ahead.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Daphne
Psaledakis and Dan Whitcomb; editing by Deepa Babington and
Diane Craft)
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