USA TODAY International Edition
Senate OKs blocking arms sale to Saudis
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted 53-45 Thursday to block the Trump administration from selling U.S.made weapons to Saudi Arabia and its allies, a rare rebuke of the White House by the Republican-led chamber.
The move pushed by a bipartisan group of senators highlights a rift between Congress and the White House over the Trump administration’s proSaudi policies, even as the kingdom has committed a series of high-profile human rights violations.
The Senate voted to pass 22 “resolutions of disapproval” to try to block a pending $8.1 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. White House officials said they will advise the president to veto the bill and allow the weapons sale to proceed.
Opponents of the deal cited not only anger at the Saudi government for its alleged role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its involvement in the war in Yemen, but also what they see as Trump’s strongarm efforts to sell weapons without seeking congressional say-so.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the chief sponsor of the legislation, said the vote was not “about any one president or any one arms sales” but about being an “effective check” on the executive branch.
“We must both assert our role in upholding the rule of law at home and use our position to ensure that when our government seeks to swell weapons, those sales advance our national security interests and our values,” he said.
He was joined by nearly every Democrat and six Republicans – Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana and Mike Lee of Utah – in voting to block the deal.