President Biden is going to Saudi Arabia in July, the Washington Post reports. It’s a controversial trip, as the Washington Post notes. During his presidential campaign, President Biden promised to treat the Saudi government as a “pariah.” Obviously, that’s not what he’s doing now.
Biden Administration officials are justifying President Biden’s reversal on “pariah” by saying that President Biden is going to use his trip to Saudi Arabia to end the Yemen war, another Biden campaign promise, which is codified in the Democratic Party Platform. [“Democrats will end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen and help bring the war to an end.”]
If it's true that President Biden will use his trip to Saudi Arabia to end the Yemen war, it’s a plausible moral defense of his trip. We’re talking about the fate of millions of innocent human beings who have been unjustly subjected to war, blockade, and famine by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with the participation of the U.S. government. If President Biden can use his trip to Saudi Arabia to keep his campaign promise to end the Yemen war, that would be worth eating a little bit of crow on “pariah.”
Congress can help President Biden achieve his goal of ending the Yemen war by passing the Yemen War Powers Resolution now, thereby locking the door on unconstitutional U.S. participation in the war and throwing away the key before President Biden gets on the plane to go to Saudi Arabia. That way, when President Biden is talking to the Saudis, continued unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen will be off the table for discussion. If the Saudis try to pressure President Biden into continuing to participate in the war, he can simply say, “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do about that. Congress has already prohibited that. My hands are tied.”
Indeed, by enforcing Article I of the U.S. Constitution - which says that Congress, not the President, decides when the U.S. goes to war [Congress never authorized this war] Congress would merely be codifying current stated Biden Administration policy. In a June 7 letter supporting “recalibration” of the U.S.-Saudi relationship in anticipation of President Biden’s trip, six House Democratic Committee Chairs called for President Biden to prioritize six goals. The second goal included: “Continuing the suspension of offensive U.S. military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.”
Of these six House Democratic committee chairs, Adam Schiff and Carolyn Maloney are currently listed as co-sponsors of the Yemen WPR. Greg Meeks, Adam Smith, Bennie Thompson, and Stephen Lynch are not yet listed as co-sponsors. Perhaps they will be soon.
It’s far from obvious why Greg Meeks, Adam Smith, Bennie Thompson, and Stephen Lynch wouldn't want to stand with Adam Schiff and Carolyn Maloney in co-sponsoring legislation saying that U.S. participation in this war shouldn’t continue, when they’re signing a letter to tell President Biden that U.S. participation in this war shouldn’t continue.
After all, they’re Members of the U.S. Congress. Under Article I of the U.S. Constitution - reaffirmed by the War Powers Resolution of 1973 - they’re supposed to be in charge of this, not the President.
You can ask your own Rep. to co-sponsor the Yemen War Powers Resolution by sending a letter via the Friends Committee on National Legislation.