WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Thursday voted to block the sale of billions of dollars in military sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries, rejecting President Donald Trump’s decision to sidestep Congress’ review of such deals.
Trump has promised to veto the Senate action in order to proceed with the deals, worth some $8.1 billion. Senators would need 67 votes to override his veto, which looked unlikely after Thursday’s votes. The first and second resolutions of disapproval passed 53-45 and a third vote covering the remaining 20 resolutions was 51-45.
Backers of the resolutions, led by Democrat Bob Menendez and Republican Lindsey Graham, said they sent a bipartisan message to Saudi Arabia that Washington is not happy about human rights abuses, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Despite Trump’s veto threat, members of Congress said they expect some Saudi-related legislation would come into effect this year.
Lawmakers are working on a separate measure “to hold Saudi Arabia accountable” for human rights abuses and Khashoggi’s murder.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also is due to consider as soon as next week legislation that would take away the ability of Trump, or any president, to use emergency authority to sell arms to any country besides NATO members and certain other key partners without congressional review.
Among military equipment in the deals are Raytheon precision-guided munitions, support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp.
Other products involved are General Electric engines for use in F-16 fighter jets operated by the UAE, and a fuzing system for precision guided bombs from the U.S. unit of French firm Thales SA.
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