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.
“The Constitution is clear: The U.S. Congress decides whether we go to war,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont and a sponsor of the resolution. “There is no question in my mind that by aiding Saudi Arabia the way we are doing that, we are assisting in war. We are in a conflict.”
Opponents of the measure sided with the administration’s assessment, arguing that the actions were not outright war and were therefore the president’s prerogative.
“Imagine how challenging that would become if every advise-and-assist mission our forces undertake around the globe becomes subject to misapplication of the War Powers Resolution,” Mr. McConnell said, referring to the 1973 measure invoked by Mr. Sanders and others.
Others, including Democratic critics of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy, merely argued that the issue was complicated and warranted further debate by the Foreign Relations Committee.
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has been gripped by violent civil strife since 2014, when the Houthis, Shiite rebels aligned with Iran, invaded the capital and later ousted the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Mr. Hadi was a staunch American ally and was once touted by American officials as a leading partner in the fight against terrorism.
Saudi Arabia began a concerted bombing campaign in early 2015 to help push back the Houthis. That campaign has long been criticized for repeated bombings on civilians, something the Pentagon has admitted that it has little oversight over.
As the Saudi-led coalition has struggled to overtake the Houthis, the conflict has given way to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, widespread child malnutrition and one of the most severe outbreaks of cholera in recent history. According to the United Nations, 10,000 civilians have been killed and 40,000 wounded in the conflict.
“This war has created refugees, widows; it has cost millions of dollars; and at the end of the day, it has, in fact, undermined our efforts against terrorist threats,” said Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the lead Republican sponsor of the measure.
The main facet of American aid comes from billions of dollars in arm sales that includes items as diverse as tanks and laser-guided bombs. On Mr. Trump’s first visit to the kingdom early last year, he pledged a $110 billion arms package, some of which had already been authorized under the Obama administration.
The American defense company Raytheon has been pushing lawmakers and the State Department to approve that sale of roughly 60,000 precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia in a deal worth more than $1 billion. Similar weapons have been used continuously in the nearly three-year-old war.
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