WASHINGTON ― Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, will vote to block President Donald Trump’s plan to ship over $500 million of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, his office said Monday in a statement provided exclusively to HuffPost.
Schumer’s decision makes him the most powerful supporter of a resolution of disapproval from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that is designed to show U.S. condemnation for the Saudis’ controversial role in a bloody civil war in Yemen.
“I will support Senator Murphy’s resolution of disapproval. The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important,” Schumer said Monday. “Of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with [a hard-line school of Islam known as] Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world.”
The announcement is the clearest sign yet that the Senate push against the weapons transfer ― blocked by the Obama administration but recently approved as part of Trump’s planned $110 billion package for Saudi Arabia ― will fare better than a similar attempt to block a U.S.-Saudi tank sale last fall. Schumer did not support that effort by Murphy and his partners.
Two other top Democrats who opposed last year’s motion are also on board this year: Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
General Democratic unity against the sale now seems likely. It’s a win-win: a way for them to show opposition to Trump, who has pulled the Saudis close, and to burnish their humanitarian credentials.
The key for activists trying to pressure Saudi Arabia will now be convincing more red-state Democrats, like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Iran hawk Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to join the cause. They also hope to win over some Republicans who have been willing to take stances on human rights issues, like Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
Senators are expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on the resolution to disapprove of the sale, a congressional aide told HuffPost.
The resolution comes as the Saudis continue to fight in Yemen, where they and allies in a U.S.-backed coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, are responsible for thousands of civilian deaths and a worsening cholera outbreak.
All the while, the Saudis, the U.A.E. and others are isolating Qatar, a U.S. partner nation that hosts the biggest American base in the region. Tuesday’s vote would give the Senate a rare chance to weigh in on the actions of the U.S.-dependent kingdom.
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