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In Rebuke To President Trump, U.S. Senate Votes To End Support For Yemen War

The Republican-controlled Senate voted to end military support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Sunni countries warring against Iranian-sponsored Houthi rebels in Yemen. The resolution demands that President Donald Trump—who has defended Riyadh in the wake of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s suspected involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi—”remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen” within 30 days. The text will now head to the Democrat-led House of Representatives, which earlier this year green-lighted a similar measure thereby all but ensuring the latest motion is rubber-stamped. The move is being construed as a rebuke of the American president who has shielded the House of Saud amid a global outcry following the October killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Accordingly, the White House has threatened to veto the measure, describing it as “flawed” and arguing that its passage would harm bilateral relations with a Middle East ally whose backing is viewed as crucial to actualizing President Trump’s central foreign policy goals of rolling back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and regional expansionism, as well as jump-starting an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. If approved, it would mark the first time Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution to curtail a president’s use of military powers in the absence of formal authorization from lawmakers. Saudi Arabia in 2015 intervened in the conflict in Yemen, where some 15 million people have since been pushed to the brink of starvation.