Trump vetoes resolutions blocking arms sales to Gulf nations

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump vetoed a series of bipartisan measures Wednesday that would have blocked the sale of billions of dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Lawmakers from both parties sent an angry joint message to Trump last month, saying that he could not go around Congress in his bid to help Persian Gulf allies prosecute their war in Yemen.

But in a veto message, Trump said blocking the arms sales “would weaken America’s global competitiveness and damage the important relationships we share with our allies and partners.”

Trump’s veto — the third of his presidency and the second turning back congressional action condemning his administration’s relationship with Saudi Arabia — had been expected. And although the resolutions passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses, lawmakers do not expect to have enough votes to override it.

The White House had set up the confrontation with Congress when it tried to bypass lawmakers by invoking emergency powers to allow the sale of $8.1 billion worth of munitions in 22 pending transfers to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Both countries are waging an air war in Yemen that Republicans and Democrats have assailed amid criticism from human rights organizations, which say that it has created a humanitarian crisis. Lawmakers had sought to end American support for the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting the Houthi rebels there.

But Trump, pushed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, invoked an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act to allow the sales from military contractors in the United States to go forward.

By declaring an emergency, the administration was able to blow through lawmakers’ holds and the 30-day review period Congress normally receives to examine a sale.