Senate passes resolution to end US role in Yemen war [View all]

[Uncle Joe]

The Senate just voted to end America’s involvement in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen — rebuking President Donald Trump and likely forcing him to veto the measure within days.

Despite a Republican majority, the resolution passed 54-46. It will now go to the House of Representatives, where it’s very likely to pass, as Democrats control the chamber. That means Trump will have to veto the measure to be able to continue US support in the conflict.

(snip)

“This war is both a humanitarian and a strategic disaster, and Congress has the opportunity to end it,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one of the bill’s sponsors and a 2020 presidential candidate, said in a Tuesday statement. According to humanitarian agencies, at least 85,000 children have starved to death in Yemen since the war began and around 14 million are at risk of famine.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sanders along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which states that if US troops are involved in “hostilities” abroad “without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.”

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/13/18263894/yemen-war-senate-sanders-murphy-lee