WASHINGTON — The House gave final passage on Wednesday to a series of measures that would block the sale of billions of dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, sending to President Trump a fresh rebuke of his administration’s efforts to circumvent Congress to help Persian Gulf allies prosecute a disastrous war in Yemen. A smattering of Republicans and the House’s lone independent, Justin Amash of Michigan, joined Democrats in three back-to-back votes, submitting for the record their stewing anger at Mr. Trump’s resolute support of Saudi Arabia and his use of emergency powers to sidestep Congress, this time with a declaration of an emergency over Iran. “If the administration wants to sell these weapons, they should follow the law — not misuse it — and come to Congress,” said Representative Eliot L. Engel, the New York Democrat who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The Iran emergency, he continued, was “phony” and devised “to trample on this body’s constitutional duties.”It is the second time in recent months that Congress has passed bipartisan legislation condemning the administration’s relationship with Saudi Arabia. Lawmakers in both parties have been incensed that the president has done nothing to punish the kingdom for the grisly killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Virginia-based Washington Post columnist, even after the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing.

Source: New York Times July 17, 2019 22:07 UTC