US lawmakers voted Thursday to end military support for the bloody Saudi-led war in Yemen, dealing a harsh bipartisan rebuke to Donald Trump and taking the historic step of curtailing a president’s war-making powers.
The House of Representatives voted 247 to 175, with one congressman voting present, to approve a resolution that directs the president “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen” within 30 days.
The text cleared the Senate last month and now heads to Trump, who is expected to veto the legislation.
The White House has called the measure “flawed” and warned it would harm bilateral relations in the region, including with Saudi Arabia.
But the passage through Congress marked a historic milestone, as it was the first time in history that a measure invoking the 1973 War Powers Resolution will reach the president’s desk.
Democrats have argued that US involvement in the Saudi-led coalition — mainly through weapons and refueling of aircraft — is unconstitutional without congressional authority.
Several lawmakers, like liberal Senator Bernie Sanders, have sought for years to reclaim US lawmakers’ powers over matters of war and peace.
