Trump Uses Veto to Shut Down Congress' Attempt to End Catastrophic War in Yemen

Today, Donald Trump used the second veto of his presidency to block a bill by Congress that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen, according to The Hill.

Trump called the bill an “unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities.”

This is the first time Congress has invoked the War Powers Resolution since its passage in 1973. Most assumed Trump would veto the bill.

Trump’s other veto, issued last month, shot down a bill that would have prevented him from reallocating money to build a border wall.

Pressure to end support for the Saudi war ramped up last year amid reports of civilian casualties and anger at Trump for not condemning the kingdom for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The U.S. has provided mid-air fueling, intelligence, and weapons to Saudi Arabia in their war with Yemen, which the UN calls the greatest humanitarian crisis on Earth. The war has fueled a cholera epidemic affecting over a million people and a famine that has starved 85,000 children. The fighting has directly killed an estimated 60,000 civilians, including 44 children who died when Saudi Arabia bombed a school bus using a U.S.-produced weapon.

“There are 22 million souls at risk of dying, of being killed. Maybe not of being shot, but being starved to death or dying from medical problems for which they can receive no medicines,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer previously told reporters.

“It is a humanitarian crisis. I would refer to it in even more draconian terms because I think it’s such a conscious effort by both sides to put these people at risk,” Hoyer added. “It is necessary for us to act.”