House votes to stop supporting Yemen war

WASHINGTON—The House approved a measure Thursday to cut off U.S. support for Saudi involvement in Yemen’s civil war, breaking with President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and setting up another possible presidential veto. The War Powers resolution passed by a 247-176 vote, with 16 Republicans joining their colleagues across the aisle. The measure passed in the Senate in March with a 54-46 bipartisan vote.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2015 between Iran-backed, Shiite Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government. The unrest has left about 22 million people in need of aid in a country of 29 million, sparking one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. To counter Iran’s influence, the U.S. has provided intelligence, logistics, and arms support to the Saudi-led coalition. But after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year, lawmakers began to call for the United States to stop helping the Saudi war effort in Yemen.

Trump has said he will veto the resolution. Neither chamber of Congress is expected to rally the two-thirds majority necessary to override the president. Trump issued his first veto in March, overruling an attempt to block his national emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border.