Measure ending US support for Yemen war clears Senate hurdle

WASHINGTON: The US Senate took a defiant stance against President Donald Trump´s White House Wednesday, advancing a measure that would end American military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Lawmakers agreed by a vote of 63-37 to allow debate to proceed on the resolution, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis failed to sway undecided senators to continue the military support for the war coalition.

The vote marks a striking departure from earlier this year when the measure failed, and signals a new bipartisan desire in the Senate for Trump´s administration to take a harder line on Saudi Arabia after the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was linked to the government in Riyadh, and amid a mounting humanitarian crisis in Yemen.