{"id":33068,"date":"2022-10-12T19:19:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T19:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/12\/democrats-jump-into-saudi-arms-fight-after-biden-detente-ends\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:44:17","slug":"democrats-jump-into-saudi-arms-fight-after-biden-detente-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2022\/10\/12\/democrats-jump-into-saudi-arms-fight-after-biden-detente-ends\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats jump into Saudi arms fight after Biden d\u00e9tente ends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 Any senator can force a floor vote to block a U.S. foreign military sale. But when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., did just that last year in a failed bid to halt President Joe Biden\u2019s $650 million sale of AIM-120 air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia, barely half of the Democratic caucus joined him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was among the Democrats who sided with Biden and voted against Paul\u2019s resolution, which failed 30-67. Now Blumenthal is taking the lead on one of numerous Democratic initiatives to curtail the U.S.-Saudi security partnership in the wake of OPEC\u2019s decision to reduce oil output \u2013 a cut that has infuriated Biden and his allies in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abrupt reversal comes after Biden himself vowed that Saudi Arabia would suffer \u201cconsequences\u201d and the White House announced it would once again review U.S.-Saudi relations. Biden conducted a similar review shortly after taking office last year, ultimately allowing some arms sales to proceed despite his vow to make Saudi Arabia a \u201cpariah\u201d state while campaigning against former president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blumenthal hopes that his \u201csensible and reasonable\u201d bill will nudge Biden to freeze all arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and potentially prompt Riyadh to reconsider the oil cuts before they go into effect next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill would enact a one-year halt on all arms sales<\/a> to Riyadh. This would include any support equipment, spare parts or other logistical and technical services that usually accompany any weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaudi cannot proceed with this kind of mistake without there being some consequences,\u201d Blumenthal said at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday. \u201cThe Saudis\u2019 actions aid and abet a murderous and brutal criminal invasion by Russia. They endanger the world economy. And they threaten higher gas prices for Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPEC announced last week that it would reduce its petroleum output as Saudi Arabia and other member countries brace for a potential recession. The decision could have domestic ramifications for embattled Democrats in the midterm elections, as Republicans have hammered their opponents on rising gas prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GOP has remained largely silent on the OPEC decision, raising questions as to whether Blumenthal can secure the 10 Republican votes he would need to pass his bill in the Senate. Notably, only one Republican \u2013 Mike Lee of Utah \u2013 joined Paul and 28 Senate Democrats in the failed 2021 vote to block the Saudi missile sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he\u2019s able to round up the Republican votes, Blumenthal said it\u2019s \u201cpossible\u201d that his bill could pass as either part of the National Defense Authorization Act \u2013 which the Senate is scheduled to vote on in November <\/a>\u2013 or the omnibus spending bill to fund the government for Fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., told Defense News on Tuesday that he did not anticipate any Saudi-related floor votes in the NDAA, simply because he had not seen his fellow senators introduce any such provisions amid the approximately 900 proposed amendments that they filed prior to the OPEC oil cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Reed \u2013 who voted with Blumenthal in favor of Biden\u2019s Saudi missile sale last year \u2013 said that the U.S. \u201cshould look carefully at everything we\u2019re sending\u201d the Saudis \u201cbecause their inability to cooperate with the West and their willingness to cooperate with Russia is very disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House NDAA, which passed 329-101 in July, already contains an amendment that would limit future offensive arms sales to Saudi Arabia until Riyadh stops targeting its dissidents in the kingdom and abroad<\/a> \u2013 though that legislation would allow Biden to issue a national security waiver allowing the weapons deals to proceed. The amendment\u2019s author \u2013 Democrat Gerry Connolly of Virginia \u2013 agreed to add the national security waiver in order to gain GOP support on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offensive or Defensive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., announced on Monday that he would use his position as Foreign Relations Committee chairman to block future arms sales to Riyadh<\/a> \u201cbeyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interests.\u201d Menendez also voted in favor of Biden\u2019s AIM-120 air-to-air missile sale to Riyadh in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., followed suit on Tuesday and said on Twitter that he will \u201cnot be approving further assistance or arms sales to Saudi Arabia beyond the support of existing defensive systems until the kingdom reverses its position.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s initial review of U.S.-Saudi relations last year resulted in a murky delineation between offensive arms sales to the Saudis \u2013 which the State Department froze \u2013 and defensive weapons, which Washington continued to sell. <\/b>This entailed freezing multiple Saudi arms sales approved under Trump, including a $290 million deal in 2020 for 3,000 precision guided missiles as well as a 2019 sale worth $8.1 billion in in precision guided munitions and aircraft support for Saudi Arabia and the UAE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats and Republicans in Congress successfully banded together to pass a resolution blocking Trump\u2019s 2019 sale, largely in response to the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s aerial campaign against Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels \u2013 which has killed nearly 9,000 civilians to date \u2013 and the kingdom\u2019s 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But lawmakers failed to muster the votes needed to override Trump\u2019s veto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Yemenis stand at the site of a Saudi air strike against Houthi rebels near Sanaa Airport on March 26, 2015, which killed at least 13 civilians. AFP PHOTO \/ MOHAMMED HUWAIS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congress has displayed much less overall interest in keeping U.S. weapons out of Saudi hands under Biden \u2013 at least until last week\u2019s OPEC decision. Three of Biden\u2019s four arms sales to Saudi Arabia have proceeded without a senator forcing a vote to block it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AIM-120 sale aside, Congress took no action to oppose another 2021 sale worth $500 million to cover the maintenance of eight CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that have yet to arrive in Saudi Arabia after a 2018 purchase. A $23.7 million Saudi sale for low volume terminals for a Multifunctional Information Distribution System also slid through the congressional review period unimpeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration considered resuming offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia amid the president\u2019s trip to Jeddah to meet the kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Reuters reported in July<\/a>. The visit itself marked a concession to Riyadh after Biden initially refused to meet with Prince Mohammed for more than a year because of his orders to kill Khashoggi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrive for the family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN \/ POOL \/ AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A White House fact sheet from Biden\u2019s visit noted that Saudi Arabia had committed to increase production levels 50% above what the kingdom had planned for July and August. Shortly thereafter, the State Department in August approved a $3 billion Patriot missile defense system to Saudi Arabia in August \u2013 with no congressional protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat galls many of us in Congress is the ingratitude,\u201d Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said at the press conference alongside Blumenthal. \u201cWhen Americans are facing a crisis because of [Russian President Vladimir Putin], when we\u2019re paying more at the pump, our ally \u2013 someone who we have helped for decades \u2013 should be trying to help the American people. Instead, they\u2019re hurting the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khanna plans to introduce the same legislation as Blumenthal in the House. He noted that Saudi Arabia procures 73% of its weapons from the U.S. and that the American military is \u201cresponsible for their entire Air Force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for our technicians, their airplanes literally wouldn\u2019t fly,\u201d said Khanna. \u201cThey have Pakistani and some other mechanics, but they\u2019re under American supervision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia’s oil production cuts have prompted President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats to revive the Trump-era push to end arms sales to Riyadh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":116829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,31,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3230,3308],"class_list":["post-33068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-home","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7ENJEASPB5BVHMVSEBMACZN65M","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2022\/10\/12\/democrats-jump-into-saudi-arms-fight-after-biden-detente-ends\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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