President Trump on Tuesday vetoed a resolution that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
The move, which had been expected, marks the second veto of Trump’s presidency.
“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Trump said in a statement.
The measure had passed the House on a 247-to-175 vote earlier this month and was approved by the Senate last month with the support of seven Republicans.
This month’s House vote marked the first time both chambers had acted to invoke the same war-powers resolution to end U.S. military engagement in a foreign conflict. It also represented the latest instance of Congress’s challenging Trump’s decisions as commander in chief.
Trump viewed the Yemen vote as a rebuke of his administration after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and urged some senators not to go along with it, according to White House and congressional aides.
He has grown frustrated with Congress for some of its votes that seemed designed to admonish him, such as the decision to remove sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and the pushback against Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for his long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Trump’s first veto, issued last month, was of a congressional resolution disapproving of his emergency declaration.
Trump spent more time whipping votes against that measure than against the Yemen resolution, aides said.
The decision to keep support for the war in Yemen is perplexing to some members of the administration, considering the president is usually inclined to remove U.S. troops from all conflict zones.
Trump continues to want to keep strong ties with Saudi Arabia and does not share the view of Congress that the kingdom needs to be punished, aides said.
Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.
