A bipartisan group of the top foreign policy lawmakers in the House and Senate is urging the Trump administration to not cut $4 billion in funding for a number of foreign aid accounts that have already been approved by Congress.

In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who also serves as President Trump’s acting chief of staff, and the acting OMB director Russell Vought, the lawmakers said the funds “are essential to promoting U.S. global leadership and protecting the security of the American people.”

The group of leaders, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, Idaho Republican, and ranking Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, as well as the House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, joined the House panel’s chairman Eliot Engel, New York Democrat, in making the case to restore the funds.

Earlier this week, Mr. Engel argued the cuts “would undermine global health efforts … stymie attempts to stop democratic backsliding and deter Russia’s harmful influence … [and] devastate our ability to project American values and leadership across the globe.”

The OMB recently informed the State Department of the funding freeze and ordered a review of several aid accounts that go towards law enforcement, peacekeeping operations, economic and foreign military funds, and various health programs around the world.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has defended efforts to cut various aid programs, saying the administration had to be “mindful of the burden on American taxpayers.”

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