White House Threatens Veto of Bill to Curb U.S. Role in Yemen

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration says it “strongly opposes" a bill that would direct the president to withdraw U.S. armed forces from the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen, threatening to veto a measure the House plans to vote on later this week.

“The premise of the joint resolution is flawed” as the U.S. has “provided limited support to member countries of the Saudi-led coalition” in Yemen and this has not led to U.S. forces becoming involved in hostilities, the White House said in a statement of administration policy. “The joint resolution would raise serious constitutional concerns.”

Democrats and some Republicans are calling for the end of the U.S.’s role in supporting a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, while the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has intensified the examination in Congress of U.S. government policy toward Saudi Arabia.

The House is expected to consider the measure, H. J. Res. 37, this week after the chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee approved the measure last week on a 25-17 party-line vote. The Senate passed a similar measure last year by a 56-41 vote under the threat of a veto by the president.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Livesey in San Francisco at blivesey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kasia Klimasinska at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net, Derek Wallbank, Ben Livesey

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