The US Senate voted Thursday to pass the arms deal to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, recently approved by the Donald Trump administration, against the backdrop of the war in Yemen and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The move came in a bipartisan move from the Republican and Democratic parties against the move adopted by the administration at the end of May.
Fifty-three to 45 voted in favor of the bill in three consecutive rounds, a clear expression of the bipartisan members' anger at the move they saw as undermining the legislature's authority to approve arms deals with foreign countries.
While the House of Representatives is also expected to vote against the deals, the president is likely to resort to a veto to bypass the congressional hurdle in both chambers and pass deals to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Trump returned last May to a rare provision of arms control laws to circumvent Congress, allowing the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf.
While arms sales usually go through a 30-day review period by Congress, the item allows for this to be bypassed in an emergency.
Opponents blame Riyadh, which leads a coalition in Yemen that has caused tens of thousands of casualties, many of them civilians, according to humanitarian groups.
"When you target civilians, how can we continue to sell these weapons?" Said Democrat Robert Menendez before the vote.
Some lawmakers are also angry over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Many parliamentarians consider Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be killed. A UN spokeswoman said on Wednesday the journalist had been killed and then cut off.
It is noteworthy that Britain announced on Thursday the suspension of new arms contracts to Saudi Arabia, fearing the use of this weapon in Yemen, and invited several NGOs in France authorities to follow the British counterpart.