The United States government is divided over whether or not to suspend sending Egypt military aid annually.
Lawmakers split-even within their own party-over the issue highlights the difficulties the Administration faces in the decision over whether or not to cease aid.
On Sunday, Republican members of Congress bashed the Obama Administration for not observing laws that require the U.S. to cut off aid from any country that is overtaken by a military coup.
Senator John McCain, who said President Obama didn't "go far enough" on a "Situation Room" interview Friday, continued criticizing the Administration's movements on another CNN show.
"For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for," he said on "State of the Union."
But according to the Associated Press, other GOP members were loath to break off from giving Egypt a reported $1.5 billion dollars every year, due to the strategic advantages of having Cairo as an ally.
Republican Pete King of New York said that cutting military aid to Egypt would give the U.S. less pull in matters of access.
"We certainly shouldn't cut off all aid," King said, citing the United States' control over the Suez Canal-a 120-mile waterway that is key for commerce with Europe and Asia-as a reason to continue giving money to Egypt.
"I think there is more opportunity to protect American interests if we work with the military and continue our relationship with the military," the House Panel Chair on Counterterrorism and Intelligence said.
Some Democrats who have largely supported President Obama's cancellation of a military exercise with Cairo's forces scheduled for next month have stated that an end to aid in the violence-torn country could be a worthwhile action.
Co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Keith Ellison told AP that taking away the military aid could be used as leverage to bolster reconciliation between the nation's torn citizens.
"I would cut off aid but engage in intense diplomacy in Egypt and in the region to try to say, look, we will restore aid when you stop the bloodshed in the street and set up a path toward democracy that you were on before," Ellison said on Sunday. "In my mind, there's no way to say that this was not a coup...we should say so. And then follow our own law, which says we cannot fund the coup leaders."
According to National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden, military aid to Egypt is currently being reviewed.
