WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected a bipartisan effort to halt American military support for the deadly Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, as lawmakers from both parties declined on Tuesday to support a rare attempt to limit the president’s war powers.
The resolution, which brought together a handful of Republicans and liberal Democrats, provided a venue for a highly unusual debate on the Senate floor, on the 15th anniversary of American forces entering Iraq, over the extent of the use of force abroad and Congress’s role in doing so. But by a vote of 55 to 44, the measure was ultimately referred back to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for further debate without a final vote.
In a show of opposition, the Trump administration sent Pentagon and State Department officials to Capitol Hill last week to make the case in a classified briefing that the measure was misguided and could do lasting damage to the United States’ relationship with a key Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. Tuesday’s debate played out as President Trump met with the influential young Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, at the White House.
Trump administration officials insist that American involvement in Yemen has been limited to noncombat support like intelligence sharing, logistics and military advice — and therefore is technically out of the senators’ reach. The officials have also raised concerns that an affirmative vote could have set a precedent that would have hemmed in American forces and diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
“New restrictions on this limited U.S. military support could increase civilian casualties, jeopardize cooperation with our partners on counterterrorism and reduce our influence with the Saudis,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wrote in a letter last week to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader.
Tuesday’s debate ultimately turned on two separate issues: whether the United States forces in Yemen were, in fact, active participants in hostilities and how lawmakers should confront and potentially curtail foreign policy set by the executive branch.
Proponents of the resolution to rein in American involvement argued that the United States’ actions in Yemen did constitute participation in hostilities and were undertaken without the proper authorization from Congress.
