The Senate voted to consider a resolution that would cease U.S. support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen, but it has a long fight ahead if it seeks to undermine the close ties to the Trump Administration.
Although there was some erosion of Trump’s usually loyal Republican base. 14 Senate Republicans sided with Democrats to vote 63-37, advancing the resolution.
It serves as a demonstration of the displeasure the Senate has had at the Trump administration’s decision to support Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Yet the two parties are once again at odds on how to proceed. While Democrats want to vote on the current iteration of the resolution, some Republicans have called for it to be amended first.
“What I’d love to see happen is to have the administration address it,” Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said.
Even with the Senate passing the resolution, for it to become law the House would have to approve it, which Republicans hold until January.
Should the resolution ultimately fail, Senator Bob Menendez claims that lawmakers could attempt adding legislation to punish Saudi Arabis in the new spending bill that Congress must pass by Dec. 7 to avoid a federal shutdown.
But without the support of both parties that isn’t likely to pass either.
Should the initial resolution hold out until Democrats take control of the House, it will likely meet fresh resistance in the new Senate that will have grown in Republican seats.
