{"id":55838,"date":"2019-05-29T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/29\/us-lawmakers-hope-to-block-trumps-saudi-arms-sale-push\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:09:38","slug":"us-lawmakers-hope-to-block-trumps-saudi-arms-sale-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/05\/29\/us-lawmakers-hope-to-block-trumps-saudi-arms-sale-push\/","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers hope to block Trump\u2019s Saudi arms sale push"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Calls are mounting on Capitol Hill to block moves by President Donald Trump that are related to potential hostilities with Iran<\/a>, arms sales<\/a> to Saudi Arabia and the war in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bipartisan frustration is focused on the Republican president\u2019s invocation of emergency powers to bypass congressional review of $8.1 billion in weapon sales for Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement Tuesday, the House\u2019s powerful No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer, condemned the administration\u2019s \u201cblatant violation of our system of checks and balances\u201d for bypassing Congress\u2019 long-standing role in approving or blocking arms sales to foreign militaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoyer vowed to “ensure that Congress asserts its proper role over arms sales\u201d by working with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. Hoyer did not offer specifics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., expressed hope Wednesday the president\u2019s action would spur House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-N.Y., to pursue a court challenge of Trump\u2019s veto of a measure to end U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia in Yemen. (Vox<\/a> reported Tuesday that Khanna was among lawmakers and legal scholars who want Pelosi to sue Trump in the Supreme Court over U.S. involvement in Yemen.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident these new arms sales provides new momentum for pursuing legal action and legislation that would end U.S. involvement in the war,\u201d Khanna tweeted<\/a> Wednesday. \u201cWith constitutional precedent on our side, I hope the Speaker and the House … will pursue legal action because we must reassert our war powers jurisdiction, especially in the face of these new actions by the president to circumvent Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Trump vetoed<\/a> a war powers resolution in April that would have directed him to remove U.S. troops from \u201chostilities\u201d in Yemen, he has sent<\/a> 1,000 additional troops to the Mideast to counter Iran and bypassed Congress on the sales to Riyadh and its allies. The Senate in May failed to override<\/a> Trump\u2019s veto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced<\/a> seven sales to the region, in part including two aircraft follow-on support and services to Saudi Arabia worth more than $2 billion, as well as RQ-21A Blackjack drones and Javelin missiles to the UAE. Further sales are expected to be announced in the Federal Register this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arms Export Control Act contains an exemption to sell weapons to partners in case of an emergency, something designed to speed up the process amid a crisis. In this case, Trump appears to be using the tense situation with Iran \u2014 based on intelligence reports that have been widely questioned by Democrats, but supported by the Pentagon \u2014 as a reason to push through the weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even some Republicans are vexed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand the administration\u2019s frustration that key members of Congress held these arms sales for an extended period of time, in some cases for over a year,\u201d Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the House Foreign Affairs Committee\u2019s ranking member, said in a statement<\/a> after the notification. \u201cHowever, the president\u2019s decision to use an emergency waiver on these sales is unfortunate and will damage certain future congressional interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Senate, several Democrats including Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and senior appropriator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., are considering an amendment to the U.S. State Department\u2019s appropriations bill aimed at barring the arms sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Administration\u2019s decision to bypass Congress and sell arms to Saudi Arabia is a misapplication of this provision and an abuse of power,\u201d Van Hollen said in a statement Friday. \u201cI will work to close this loophole in the appropriations process and use every available tool to prevent President Trump from taking this action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over State Department appropriations, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, is the co-sponsor of the Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act, which bars certain U.S. weapons sales to Riyadh. (Menendez is one of the co-sponsors of that legislation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t support the arms sales now, but I do support American troops going into the Mideast in larger numbers to deter Iran,\u201d Graham told Fox News on Sunday, citing his belief Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t