Gardner Votes To Let Saudis Keep Bombing Yemen

As the Denver Post’s Justin Wingerter reports:

Colorado’s U.S. senators split Wednesday over whether to end America’s involvement in Yemen’s civil war.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Denver Democrat considering running for president in 2020, voted in favor of a resolution ending assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican, voted against the resolution, which passed the Senate 54-46…

After Democrats took control this year, the House passed a similar measure in February, with only one Colorado member, Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, opposed to the resolution. Two other Colorado Republicans, Reps. Scott Tipton of Cortez and Ken Buck of Windsor, joined all four Colorado Democrats in support of that resolution.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R).

First of all, it’s universally expected that President Donald Trump will veto this resolution once it reaches his desk, and based on the vote in the Senate there aren’t enough votes to overturn that veto. But two factors combine to make this a morally questionable position for Sen. Cory Gardner to take–the growing condemnation of civilian casualties in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen’s ongoing civil war, and anger over the role of the Saudi crown prince and government in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Like so many other hot-button issues Gardner has tried to have it both ways on relations with Saudi Arabia, claiming support for an investigation into Khashoggi’s death but unwilling to back up that concern with criticism of Saudi Arabia that might jeopardize relations with our “key ally”–let alone votes that might actually motivate the Saudis to be more forthcoming, like voting to end support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

It looks like once again the action to match Sen. Gardner’s lip service will have to wait for another day.

12 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. davebarnes says:

    Where does the GOPer base stand on this issue?
    Can they even find Yemen on a globe?

  2. JohnInDenver says:

    It is going to be interesting.  War Powers Act allows for a concurrent resolution — which does not need a Presidential signature — to cancel out Presidential deployments.

    I was reading a national security paper which said that "legislative vetoes" had not been upheld in other situations, but there was a stronger argument when there was a "power of the purse" action by BOTH chambers (as will be the case with Yemen).  The paper concluded the issue is likely to be taken to courts, and there would be questions about Court interference with such a political issue, and if the Courts accepted it, how they would come down in a "balance of powers" test like this one.

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