Senators reach deal to vote on blocking Saudi arms sale
Source: Associated Press
Senators reach deal to vote on blocking Saudi arms sale
By SUSANNAH GEORGE
June 19, 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate will vote Thursday on more than a dozen resolutions aimed at blocking the Trump administrations sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, setting up a new challenge to President Donald Trumps steadfast alliance with the kingdom.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced a deal had been reached from the Senate floor Wednesday. McConnell said two of the 22 resolutions would be debated and receive separate votes while the others would be voted on as a package. The arrangement prevents the large number of resolutions from tying up Senate business for weeks.
The Trump administrations close ties to the Saudis have frustrated members of Congress for months. Long concerned by high civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, lawmakers were outraged by the killing of U.S.-based Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year.
The move to block the sale was launched earlier this month by Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was joined by several prominent Republicans, creating bipartisan pushback to Trumps foreign policy after the White House used an emergency declaration to approve the arms sale without congressional review.
Menendez said, Its well past time for the Senate and the entire Congress to stand up and push back.
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