Will Congress scuttle the new U.S.-Pakistan deal?

The Obama administration is planning to release more than $1 billion of held-up funds to the Pakistani government this month, following Pakistan’s opening of the supply lines to Afghanistan. But Congress can thwart that plan and at least one senator is going to try.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby confirmed to The Cable on Friday that the Pentagon is planning to give Pakistan $1.1 billion in Coalition Support Funds (CSF), reimbursement money that Pakistan has already spent in the joint effort to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban. The U.S. government has been holding up the money over the past six months while the supply lines were closed. Pakistan closed those supply lines after NATO forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border in November, but opened them up again this week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally, publically, said "we’re sorry" for the mistakes that led to those killings.

Clinton didn’t mention the funds when she announced the deal to re-open the supply lines. Kirby didn’t say the money was a quid pro quo deal in exchange for opening up the Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC), as other officials and experts allege, but he did acknowledge that the two issues are linked.

"Now that the GLOCs are open, we intend to submit the approximately $1.1 billion in approved receipts under the Coalition Support Fund for costs associated with past Pakistani counter-terrorism operations," Kirby told The Cable. "Now that the GLOCs are open, we are prepared to move forward with these claims."

Kirby said that congressional leadership was kept in the loop during the discussions with Pakistan about re-opening the supply lines. "We look forward to working closely with Congress to process these claims," he said.

Multiple Senate offices told The Cable that the notification for releasing the $1.1 billion to the Pakistan military has not yet reached Capitol Hill but is expected in the coming days. After Congress receives the notification, lawmakers have 15 days to object to the release or the funds will go through.

Congressional anger at Pakistan is at an all-time high, and not just because of the closing of the supply lines, which have cost U.S. taxpayers about $100 million extra per month, according to Kirby. Lawmakers are upset that the Pakistani military can’t or won’t eliminate the safe havens in Pakistan where insurgents live and from where they launch cross-border attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Lawmakers are also upset that the Pakistani courts have condemned Shakil Afridi, the doctor who worked with the CIA to help positively identify Osama bin Laden. Afridi was sentenced last month to 33 years in jail for treason. Last week, before the deal over the supply lines was announced, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told The Cable he would force a vote on an amendment to halt all aid to Pakistan this month, due to the Afridi case.

"My goal is that the guy who helped us get bin Laden will not be in prison for the rest of his life," Paul said in an interview.

Afridi has an appeals hearing on July 19, so Paul is planning to wait and see if the Pakistani courts reverse themselves before he uses a rare procedural move to force a vote to cut off all aid to Pakistan.

"I’ve decided to try to have the vote on July 20 to give them one more chance to review his case," Paul said.

Senate leadership is dead set against letting Paul have a vote on his amendment, out of concern that senators won’t want to publically stand up in defense of sending more American taxpayer money to our greatest frenemy. But Paul said he plans to use Senate Rule 14 to force a vote and his office has collected 33 signatures from other senators on a petition to push for that vote. It’s not clear if this legislative tactic will work, but Paul is confident.

"I can go around the leadership on that. I don’t think they can stop me from having a vote. There will be a vote on Pakistan," Paul said. "It doesn’t happen very often, but I have the signatures and I can get a vote."

Paul met with the State Department and Pakistani Ambassador Sherry Rehman last week. After the GLOC deal was struck this week, The Cable asked Paul spokeswoman Moira Bagley if the Kentucky senator would also try to stop the release of the CSF money. She said he would.

"Sen. Paul is dedicated to seeing Dr. Afridi — an integral figure in finding Osama bin Laden — released from prison in Pakistan. He is prepared to use all legislative tools possible to obtain this goal, including blocking U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to the government of Pakistan until they cooperate with this request," she said. "Should the opportunity to block these … funds come before the Senate, Sen. Paul will urge his colleagues to do so."

The funding is technically under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, but the leaders of those committees were out of town this week and their offices declined to comment on the CSF funding because they have not yet received the notification.

"Secretary Clinton did a great job negotiating the re-opening of supply routes from #Pakistan to #Afghanistan," Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Republican John McCain (R-AZ) tweeted on July 4, but it’s not clear if he will support the release of the $1.1 billion CSF. McCain is currently traveling in Afghanistan and the Middle East, he could not be reached for comment.

If Congress does let the funds go through, that could be a key confidence-building measure between the two countries, which are trying to dig themselves out of the worst period in the bilateral relationship in over a decade.

If Congress halts the funds, the very short uptick in relations will be scuttled and the two nations will return to their all-too-familiar pattern of retaliation and recriminations. But there’s little chance that Pakistan will close the supply lines, now that they are open again.

"Several trucks have gone through, and they will continue," Kirby told Pentagon reporters at a Thursday briefing. "I mean, this will continue now that the gates are open."