Senator Bob Menendez said he was 'disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights.'
President Donald Trump was set to activate an emergency loophole that would allow him to bypass Congress in selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The two Arab monarchies have been accused of war crimes in their conflict against Yemen's Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebel group Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, which they—along with the U.S.—accused of receiving direct support from Iran. The latest sale came at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, which the Trump administration has accused of plotting to attack U.S. interests in the region, a charge it denied.
In his statement, Menendez referenced the two countries' troubled record on human rights in Yemen, as well as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's alleged involvement in the October 2018 slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.
In a statement sent to Newsweek on Friday, Murphy said that"President Trump is only using this loophole because he knows Congress would disapprove of this sale," warning that"there is no new ‘emergency’ reason to sell bombs to the Saudis to drop in Yemen, and doing so only perpetuates the humanitarian crisis there."
In Sana'a, Yemen, a boy rides a bike on rubble of houses destroyed in a recent airstrike carried out by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition, on May 23. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been accused of war crimes in Yemen, compelling lawmakers to vote in favor of ending all U.S. support. Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
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