US Senate to vote Wednesday on Saudi Yemen war resolution

The US Senate will vote on Wednesday on a resolution to end Washington’s support for the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen, as lawmakers push President Donald Trump to toughen his policy toward the kingdom, Reuters reports.

Announcing the vote on Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders called the war “a humanitarian and strategic disaster.” Sanders, an independent who is running for president as a Democrat, is a lead co-sponsor of the resolution along with Republican Senator Mike Lee.

The vote on the war powers resolution will be the second within four months in the Senate. The chamber passed the measure by 56-41 in December, a rebuke of Trump amid anger at Saudi Arabia not just over civilian deaths in Yemen, but also the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

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To become effective, however, the resolution must be passed by the new Senate, which was seated in January, as well as the House of Representatives. Then it must garner enough votes to override an expected veto by Trump, who has touted the importance of a strategic alliance with Riyadh.

The House passed its own version of the resolution in February, but a procedural issue kept it from a vote in the Senate.