Senators fell short Thursday in a bid to overturn President Trump’s veto over U.S. involvement in the ongoing Yemen civil war, leaving the administration free to support the Saudi-led coalition backing one side in the conflict.
While a majority of the Senate voted against Mr. Trump, they fell short of the two-thirds needed to prevail.
The fight is largely symbolic, with the administration saying it’s not engaged in any actual fighting and had already ended jet refueling assistance to the Saudi coalition, so it’s not clear what the anti-Trump resolution would actually do.
But the battle did serve as a juicy skirmish between Mr. Trump and some of his potential 2020 opponents, including Sen. Bernard Sanders, who led the effort to rein in the president and his war powers, and who called the vote a matter of “courage.”
“If you are a good constitutionalist, voting to override Trump’s veto should be a no-brainer because this war has not been authorized by Congress. It is unconstitutional,” the Vermont senator said.
Joining him and Democrats were seven Republicans, including some notable libertarian and conservative stalwarts, who said it was time to reclaim Congress’s role in committing U.S. troops to war zones.
On the other side were GOP leaders and the White House, which said America’s limited role in backing the Saudi coalition is savings lives and tamping down on the ambitions of Iran. The Tehran regime is supporting the rebels who are battling the Yemeni government and the Saudi coalition backing it.
“An abrupt withdrawal of U.S. support for the coalition would be good news for Iran, for the Houthi rebels they support, and for al Qaeda,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Overshadowing the debate is lingering anger at the Saudi government and particularly Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, whom U.S. officials implicate in the government’s killing of a dissident journalist last year. Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post, was executed at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
“That was a signal to any dissident in Saudi Arabia that if you dare speak out against the royal family that’s what you have to look forward to,” Mr. Sanders said.
Even Mr. Trump’s backers said they were dismayed by Khashoggi’s slaying and other aspects of the Saudi regime, but they argued the Yemen conflict was the wrong place to make a stand.
Rep. Jim Risch, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he is working on other legislation to try to right-size U.S.-Saudi affairs, though he backed Mr. Trump in Thursday’s vote.
“Frankly, aspects of Saudi Arabia’s behavior are cause for serious, serious concern,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s opponents were trying to be the first to successfully flex the 1973 War Powers Resolution to end U.S. involvement in a conflict.
Under that law, if Congress can muster the votes it...