Foreign Relations committee

Rare strife breaks out over Saudi bills in Senate Foreign Relations committee

By MARIANNE LEVINE

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are accusing each other of making misleading statements as the Senate prepares bills to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the historically bipartisan committee, claims Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) “blindsided” him by breaking an agreement over legislation related to Saudi Arabia.

“It’s not as we agreed on the floor,” Menendez said.

The conflict centers on two competing bills — one from Risch and one from Menendez — to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing of Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder.

Menendez said he agreed with the chairman in June to combine his bill with Risch’s, which would have increased the chances of the full senate voting on his bill.

Risch, however, claims Menendez will get what he wants — a committee vote on his bill.

“I have put his bill on here so I don't know how you can be blindsided by that, it's his bill that he's been asking to be on for six months,” Risch said. “I certainly didn't make a deal that it would be added to my bill. He knows better than that.”

The public tension between Risch and Menendez is unusual for the Foreign Relations Committee which prides itself on collegiality. Last year, Menendez praised Risch’s predecessor, former Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) upon his retirement from the Senate for his commitment to addressing human trafficking. Menendez thanked Corker and described him as a “strong and fair leader for the Committee” who had “spoken truth to power.”

Corker and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) also had a close working relationship - notably reaching a bipartisan agreement for Congress to review the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.

“I had deep respect for him, he had deep respect for me,” he said. “We didn’t always agree but we always found a way to move forward.”

Members of the Committee acknowledged the recent discord between the two men but noted that their tension is also representative of broader disagreement between the White House and Senate Democrats over foreign policy, particularly when it comes to the vetting of the Trump administration’s nominees and its approach to Saudi Arabia.

“I would characterize it as a little bit more tense in the last week largely about what gets on the agenda,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a committee member, who said the Committee's delay in considering nominees is also contributing to the Risch-Menendez dynamic. "There's been a longstanding notion that the minority needs to agree when things get on the agenda and I think the chairman has tried everything possible to sort of follow that but I think we reached sort of a critical moment."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Dela.) a member of the committee observed that Republicans and Democrats on the committee get along well when compared to the overall partisan dynamics of the Senate as a legislative body. But he noted the Trump White House’s approach to foreign policy causes conflict.

“At a time when the administration is following an unconventional foreign policy — that puts a lot of strain on the majority party committee chairman who is trying to deliver results that the White House is asking for, but the minority party ranking is trying to do the job of vetting candidates that the administration is not,” Coons said.

As of now the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider the Risch and Menendez bills on Saudi Arabia separately Thursday. Risch’s bill, which has support from Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Coons, would deny visas to some Saudi government officials and require that the secretary of state conduct a review of the United States’ relationship with the Kingdom.

But several Democrats, including Menendez, said it doesn’t go far enough. Menendez’s bill, which includes Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana as a cosponsor, would block certain arms sales to Saudi Arabia and in-flight refueling of Saudi Arabia aircraft. Considering the bills separately, Menendez argues, guarantees that Risch’s bill will make it to the Senate floor.

“They want a weaker bill that they can vote out and then they have a bill that, if they want to cover themselves up, they can have McConnell bring it to the floor,” Menendez said. “If there's a stronger bill, then you know they'll have a more difficult time making a decision whether or not they'll bring it to the floor because there's something of substance done.”

Risch however, said his bill is the only one the White House will sign.

“You're never going to get everything you want,” he said “This committee has been anxious to be involved in foreign relations policy. This bill gives us the opportunity to do that.”

The Senate has voted twice this session to rebuke the Trump administration on Saudi Arabia by passing bipartisan resolutions disapproving of arms sales to the kingdom without congressional approval and calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Saudi-backed war in Yemen.

Both measures were vetoed or received veto threats from President Donald Trump.

Young, who reiterated his commitment to the Menendez bill, described both Menendez and Risch as “professional and deep in their conviction” and said the two votes were “eminently reasonable.”

“The chairman is trying to bridge what I think he believes is the best interest of the country at this point as it relates to Saudi Arabia and our position which is distinct from that and that’s not easy to do,” he said.