House Republicans move to gut resolution pulling US from war in Yemen

The GOP-led House Rules Committee, in an unusual step in its final days in power, discreetly tucked a provision into an unrelated measure that would no longer consider the Yemen plan a "privileged" resolution during this Congress. If the measure is no longer considered privileged, it would no longer move on an expedited path and GOP leaders would have more power to deny the measure from getting a vote.

The language was added to a rule governing floor debate over the farm bill, and still must be approved by the full House, which will vote on the rule on Wednesday.

Rep. Jim McGovern, the Democrat who will chair the panel when Democrats take over the House in January, strongly objected to the GOP move.

"It was bad enough that Republicans for the first time ever used a legislative maneuver to shut off the privilege of a Yemen resolution last month," McGovern said. "Now, they've taken the further unprecedented step of shutting off the privilege for all Yemen resolutions to prevent any debate on this through the end of this Congress."

McGovern added: "Members of the House are being told to sit idly by for weeks as the worst conflict on the planet rages on. It's a shameful abdication of our responsibility."

The move could give President Donald Trump cover for when the Senate votes Wednesday on a resolution to end US support in Yemen within 30 days, an unprecedented move invoking the War Powers Act.

The Trump administration bitterly opposes the resolution, cosponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat.

Senators on both sides of the aisle, frustrated with Saudi Arabia and furious over its role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, are eager to send a message to the Saudi kingdom and the White House.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, who opposes the Yemen resolution, plans to offer a measure this week to directly rebuke Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the first formal response to Khashoggi's murder.

"It's un-American," Corker said, referring to President Donald Trump's suggestions that US arms sales with Saudi Arabia are more important than a strong response to the murder of a journalist.

"To say, 'Well, no. They're going to buy some arms for us, and so it's OK to kill a journalist,' sends exactly the wrong message about who we are as a country," he added.

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