The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution that seeks to end U.S. military support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
The resolution invokes the War Powers Act of 1973, which gives Congress the authority to direct the president to remove U.S. forces from hostile situations if such forces are there "without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization."
The Senate's bill is in response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi back in October.
The CIA reportedly concluded with "high confidence" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's repeatedly said there's "no direct evidence" linking the crown prince to the murder.
Although enough Senators on both sides of the aisle reportedly support the resolution, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged lawmakers Wednesday to vote against it.
"The Senate wants to pick a constitutional fight with the executive branch over war powers. I would advice my colleagues to pick a better case. ... There are more careful ways the Senate could express this concern about the conflict in Yemen or our partnership with Saudi Arabia without taking such a blunt instrument to the policy in this area," McConnell said.
Even if the resolution to end U.S. support in Yemen passes the Senate, it doesn't seem like it'll be going any further at the moment. The House can't bring it up for a floor vote for the rest of the year thanks to a measure that got tucked into an unrelated bill. On top of that, President Trump's already threatened to veto it.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
