Local Editor
President Trump's threatened first veto has been averted, at least for now, following an unexpected Senate parliamentarian decision derailing legislation to end the U.S. role in Yemen's civil war.
The legislation passed the House Feb. 13 in a 248-177 vote and was expected to be considered by the Senate this week, before the parliamentarian determined it wasn't actually entitled to an up-or-down vote.
The news came as a shock to supporters, who first learned Monday that the bill was deemed "de-privileged," meaning it is not entitled to a guaranteed Senate vote after passing the House.
The decision allows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to block the legislation from a vote. McConnell has repeatedly said he won't allow legislation to have a floor vote if Trump won't sign it.
Supporters of the legislation believe the reason for the surprise derailment is the addition of language condemning anti-Semitism before the final version passed.
A Capitol Hill legislative aide said that "privileged" motions are generally formulaic, but that only germane amendments are allowed or else the bill will be considered de-privileged. Before the addition of anti-Semitism language, the bill only technically had one amendment, from Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican, who modified the bill to allow continued intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia.
Bill sponsor Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is leading Senate efforts. McConnell's office did not comment.
The parliamentarian's decision slowly filtered through supportive Senate offices, and was shared with the Washington Examiner by the office of Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, which had expected a vote this week.
A source with direct knowledge of the parliamentarian's decision confirmed the verdict, but would not supply the reasoning.
The legislation would have been the first-ever use of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to end a U.S. military intervention.
In December, outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., killed a separate effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led intervention, with GOP leadership passing a measure to de-privilege all resolutions concerning Yemen for the rest of the previous legislative session, as the Senate voted 56-41 to withdraw from the conflict.
The anti-Semitism language was added just before the final vote in the House at the urging of the House Republican majority after the emergence of anti-Israel remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. The wording was noncontroversial, receiving 424 votes in favor, zero votes opposed, and two votes "present." The office of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fight is not over for opponents of the Yemen intervention, and senators are considering forcing a vote on a new privileged bill, returning the issue to another House vote.
Laura Maloney, a spokeswoman for Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told the Washington Examiner "the Senate bill is still privileged. We’ve talked to Sanders’ office, and plan to force a vote on that one if Sen. McConnell won’t bring up the House passed bill."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
