Congress puts heat on Saudis as Trump shields crown prince
With President Donald Trump set to blow off a deadline to assess Prince Mohammed’s role in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Congress is gearing up to pass several anti-Riyadh measures.
President Donald Trump appears set to blow off a congressionally imposed deadline requiring him to determine whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Trump administration has given no indication that it will complete the Khashoggi probe, which Congress launched last year, by its Thursday deadline. And a Senate aide told Al-Monitor that lawmakers aren’t holding their breath.
Instead, both chambers are doubling down on measures to hold Saudi Arabia to account for Khashoggi’s death and the war in Yemen.
Just today, newly empowered Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a resolution directing the administration to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in a 25-17 party-line vote. The vote came immediately after Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., held the panel’s first hearing in the new Congress, which was dedicated entirely to the Arabian peninsula.
