A measure directing the United States to end its support of Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen is headed for President Trump’s desk, where he will issue the second veto of his presidency.
The House passed the measure Thursday after Democrats defeated a last-minute attempt by the GOP to amend the bill with a pro-Israel provision, which would have blocked it from clearing Congress.
The Senate passed the measure in March with bipartisan support. It would end U.S. military involvement in the Yemen civil war that began in 2015.
The measure now heads to the White House where Trump has pledged to veto it. The Senate would then have the option, but not an obligation, to take up a veto override measure. It’s not likely Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would take up a veto override vote.
Two-thirds majorities are needed in each chamber to override a presidential veto and there are not enough Republicans who support the Yemen resolution to ultimately block the president.
Lawmakers in both parties have grown increasingly opposed to the U.S.’s involvement in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels has created a humanitarian crisis and killed thousands of Yemenis.
The measure was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is running for president and believes the U.S. military’s involvement is unauthorized by Congress.
Most House Republicans voted against the measure and argued it is too broad and would interfere with the executive branch’s authority to conduct military operations overseas.
“This resolution would set a dangerous precedent with respect to the war powers act,” Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, who is the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Supporters of the measure said U.S. withdrawal will speed up a diplomatic solution and end a war that has created a humanitarian crisis and the threat of mass starvation due to a blockade put in place by the Saudi military.
“I don’t want to see 14 million Yemenis starve to death,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “If the Saudis don’t stop their blockade we will see one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world. Congress should speak with a moral voice. Food and medicine should get to civilians.”
House Republicans, who have tried repeatedly to thwart Democratic legislation with last-minute amendments, introduced a provision to “condemn and oppose the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) targeting Israel and all efforts to delegitimize Israel.”
The pro-Palestinian BDS movement is considered ant-Israel and many lawmakers in both parties oppose it.
But Democrats voted against the measure after Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called it a “cynical, political ploy,” to try to kill the overall bill by amending it.
“This is about trying to drive a wedge into this caucus where it does not belong,” said Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla.
