House votes to end US role in Yemen war despite Trump veto threat

The House voted 248-177 Wednesday to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a move that could potentially cause President Donald Trump to issue the first veto of his presidency.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., had attempted to force a vote on the issue since 2017, only for Republican leadership to block a floor vote. But with Democrats now in control of the House, they have sought to capitalize on the bipartisan backlash stemming from the Yemen war and Saudi Arabia’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khanna views the vote as a way for Congress to reassert its authority over foreign military intervention in order to curtail Trump’s hard-line anti-Iran agenda in the region.

“This is such a powerful message that Congress is sending that we don’t want more engagement in the Middle East and we’re stopping the intervention in Yemen, even the smallest US involvement,” Khanna told reporters ahead of the vote. “Certainly, we’re going to prevent any broader conflict with Iran.”