Two U.S. senators have met with Egypt’s military backed government and urged them to release all political prisoners including former President Mohammed Morsi.

Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham called the removal of Morsi a “coup”, which the Obama administration has been refusing to do, and said that “inclusive democracy [is] the only viable path to stability.”

If the admistration were to formally label the removal of Morsi a coup, over $1.3 billion in aid would have to immediately be cut off. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has said that if they were to cut off aid, the military could not have the kind of relationship with the Egyptian military that benefits the country.

“The people who are in charge were not elected. The people who were elected are in jail. The status quo is not acceptable,” Senator Graham said. “In democracy, you sit down and talk to each other. It is impossible to talk to somebody who is in jail.”

Over 250 people have been killed in violence since Morsi’s removal on July 3rd.