Republican rebels block restrictions on Saudi nuclear deal

A handful of Senate Republicans are bucking their leadership by holding up a resolution calling on the Donald Trump administration to refrain from reaching a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that falls short of America's so-called gold standard.

Al-Monitor has learned from congressional sources that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wants to unanimously pass a nonbinding resolution on the floor urging the Trump administration to “prohibit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or separating plutonium on its own territory.” But several Republicans are objecting, casting doubt on Congress’ determination to weigh in on the Trump administration’s nuclear negotiations with the Saudis.

Because senators object to unanimous consent requests anonymously, it's not known who has concerns. McConnell’s office did not respond to inquiries about how many lawmakers have objected.

“This blocks both the plutonium and the uranium route to civilian nuclear energy being converted into a potential bomb,” the resolution's sponsor, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said at a July markup. “This is a standard that we are trying to establish everywhere in the world, and it is so important in the context of the Middle East and the dynamic in Saudi Arabia and Iran.”