Senators eye shutoff

Senators eye shutoff for Saudis in Yemen

By ELANA SCHOR

A bipartisan Senate bid to yank U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-backed war in Yemen is close to a key victory — with the outcome potentially riding on a Wednesday briefing from two of President Donald Trump’s top advisers.

Tension between senators and the Trump administration over U.S.-Saudi relations has simmered since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a vocal critic of Riyadh. U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly tied his murder to the Saudi crown prince, raising the stakes for an imminent vote on a resolution that would end America's support for Saudi-backed forces in the bloody war in Yemen.

Supporters of the measure could notch a major win once the vote takes place, as soon as this week, given lawmakers’ pent-up interest in pushing back after Khashoggi’s killing.

But much likely depends on what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tell senators during a private meeting slated for Wednesday. Several of the 10 Democrats who voted against taking up a similar measure on the war in Yemen in March said this week that they were evaluating where they stood and are waiting to hear from Trump’s Cabinet members.

Only six of those 10 Democrats would need to switch their votes in order to push the Yemen resolution to passage, provided that none of the five Republicans who supported debating the matter in March end up switching their votes.

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of the chamber’s most vocal critics of the Saudi government, predicted that “if we pick up the same five Republicans, I think the resolution passes, based on my read” of his fellow Democrats.

“But the pressure is going to be bigger, this time, from the administration,” he added.

Trump last week described the Saudis as “a great ally” and declined to point a finger at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi’s murder, despite Republicans and Democrats alike tying the dissident’s death to the young royal. With some senators looking for a stronger response to Khashoggi than previously announced Trump administration sanctions, their imminent vote on ending U.S. support for the Saudi-backed conflict in Yemen could be a way to send a strong message.

If the Senate agrees to take up the measure withdrawing U.S. backing for the war — which has raised widespread humanitarian concerns — it risks kicking off a freewheeling debate that GOP leaders can’t afford with government funding set to expire in less than two weeks.

Even if the Yemen resolution clears its first hurdle, however, its prospects for ultimately clearing both chambers of Congress remain dim at best. Nonetheless, a successful initial vote in the Senate would be a major symbolic victory for the measure's supporters.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), one of the 10 in his party who voted against floor debate on a similar resolution earlier this year, said Tuesday that he’s “inclined to support it” this time despite “unanswered questions” about what comes next if it clears the hurdle.

“But frankly, OK, you want to have an open-ended debate on the floor of the Senate about foreign policy? Why not?” Coons told reporters.

Another of the 10, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, said Tuesday that he's also inclined to support the resolution, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) announced late Tuesday that he would support it. Five more Democratic senators who earlier voted against floor debate on it indicated this week that they’re still assessing their positions ahead of Wednesday’s briefing: Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Bill Nelson of Florida, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Doug Jones of Alabama.

“I’ll let you know” on Wednesday, Nelson said when asked about his stance.

Another Democrat who voted with them, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, told reporters that “the briefing will help an awful lot, because Mattis is the person who basically came and showed us exactly his concerns and why we should vote to table, before – which I think would be a harder argument to make now.”

Five Republicans voted in March to take up the measure using the War Powers Act of 1973 to end U.S. support for the Saudi-backed forces in the Yemeni conflict, which was authored by Sens. Murphy, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). One of those five, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said Tuesday that she maintains the same position. A spokesman for another, Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, said he would settle on a final decision after hearing from Mattis and Pompeo.

However, more than those five GOP votes may be in play: Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), another critic of Saudi involvement in the Yemeni war who voted to block a U.S. arms deal with Riyadh last year, said this week that he's undecided. And Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has nudged the administration repeatedly on its response to the Khashoggi killing, said only that "we'll see" when asked about his stance.

Corker is one of several senators who've called on the administration to send CIA Director Gina Haspel to Wednesday's briefing since Haspel listened to audio of Khashoggi's murder in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Neither Trump nor his national security adviser, John Bolton, have listened to the tape, a decision that Bolton defended on Tuesday while stating that Haspel was not being prevented from briefing senators.

Regardless of how the vote shakes out, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday suggested that a further statement by the chamber on Khashoggi's killing could be in the offing.

Describing the Saudi role in the journalist's murder as "completely abhorrent to everything the United States holds dear and stands for in the world," McConnell told reporters that "some kind of response to that certainly would be in order, and we're discussing what the appropriate response should be."