House Republicans move to block Yemen war-powers votes for rest of Congress

House Republicans are moving to prevent members from forcing a vote for the rest of the year on any resolution that attempts to use the War Powers Act to cut off U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

On Tuesday night, the House Rules Committee advanced in a party-line vote a rule for floor debate of the farm bill that includes a provision stripping war powers resolutions related to Yemen of their privileged status, which is supposed to allow lawmakers to force vote on such bills, for the rest of this Congress.

“The provisions of section 7 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546) shall not apply during the remainder of the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress to a concurrent resolution introduced pursuant to section 5 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544) with respect to Yemen,” the rule says, referencing the relevant sections of the war powers law.

The rule must still be approved by the full House.{mosads}

The move comes as the Senate is poised to approve a resolution that uses the War Powers Act to force the withdrawal any U.S. troops in or “affecting” Yemen within 30 days unless they are fighting al Qaeda.

The Senate resolution picked up considerable momentum as lawmakers searched for a way to respond to Saudi Arabia’s killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi and rebuke President Trump’s handling of the issue.

Supporters and opponents of the Senate resolution alike are predicting it has the 51 votes needed to pass when it comes for a vote Wednesday.

The full House, meanwhile, is scheduled to receive a briefing on Saudi Arabia and Yemen on Thursday morning.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) also recently reintroduced his war powers resolution for Yemen with the hope that Senate passage with Republican support could pressure House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to allow a vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was helping gather Republican support.

Khanna introduced the same resolution earlier this year. But like with the latest resolution, Republican leadership blocked a vote on the previous effort by stripping its privilege using a rule for an unrelated bill.

Asked Monday whether Ryan would bring the resolution for a vote or strip it of its privilege, spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in an email that “the House has already acted on this question.”