US House votes to end US support in Yemen
February 14, 2019
The Democrat-led US House of Representatives has voted 248-177 in favor of a resolution that would end US support for the Saudi Arabia-led military intervention in Yemen.
Only 18 Republicans voted for the measure, which would ban refueling support and intelligence and targeting assistance without prior Congressional approval.
Lawmakers said they were concerned about how the US had contributed to the civil war in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
"We have helped create, and worsen, the world's largest humanitarian crisis," Democratic Representative Barbara Lee said. "Our involvement in this war, quite frankly, is shameful."
Read more: Yemen is 'the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world'
Trump not happy
Lawmakers who voted against the resolution said it would harm US relationships with regional allies and undermine US ability to stop the spread of religious extremism.
The White House has defended US involvement by pointing out that no US troops are actively taking part in the war.
President Donald Trump is expected to veto the motion if the Republican-controlled Senate approves it within the next 30 days.
Rare move
The vote marked a rare invocation of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that allows Congress to restrict the president's ability to use military force abroad.
The Senate passed a similar resolution in late 2018, but it expired before the House began a fresh term in January. No such resolution has ever passed both houses of Congress and the White House.
Alongside the involvement in Yemen, many lawmakers have also grown uneasy about Saudi Arabia's involvement in the assassination of the dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in late 2018.
amp/rc (dpa, Reuters, AP)