WASHINGTON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved three resolutions on Wednesday to block the Trump administration's efforts to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without congressional review.
The move further demonstrated lawmakers' discontent with the Trump administration's decision to complete the 22 arms sales to its Arab partners without congressional review.
The House passed three of the 22 arms sales, two on a vote of 238-190, the third by 237-190. Citing Democratic leadership, U.S. media reported that the House only voted three in the interest of time, since U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to veto them.
The Senate voted 53 to 45 last month to block two sales, and 51 to 45 to block the other 20.
The White House had reportedly planned to veto congressional efforts to block arms sale, and neither chamber is expected to gain the two-thirds votes necessary to override the vetoes.
Citing the humanitarian crisis in the Yemeni conflict and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S. Congress has put on hold the pending arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Trump administration announced in May that it would invoke "emergency" provision of the Arms Export Control Act to complete the 8.1-billion-U.S.-dollar arms sales to the three U.S. regional partners to deter Iranian threats.
