{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"icon":"happy","color":"#3AB093","stance":"happy"},{"icon":"apathetic","color":"#EDB723","stance":"apathetic"},{"icon":"sad","color":"#5ACDED","stance":"sad"}],"id":28296,"title":"Trump to Circumvent Congress to Sell Weapons Benefitting Saudi Arabia, UAE","html_content":"\n

by Axios | 5.24.19

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed to lawmakers on Friday that President Trump will invoke an emergency provision allowing him to bypass Congress to sell nearly $8 billion worth of weapons that would benefit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reports the Washington Post.

Why it matters: The \"rare\" move to declare an emergency in an effort to push through 22 arms deals is troubling to both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are concerned that the White House is tipping the system of checks and balances, per the Post. Some fear that selling weapons to Gulf nations could fan the flames of tension between the U.S. and Iran, per the New York Times.

The context:

The U.S. has previously sold weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. What worries lawmakers is the use of these weapons against civilians in Yemen, per the New York Times.
Both the House and Senate passed a resolution to cut off American support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, but Trump vetoed the legislation.
Saudi Arabia has been using American-made weapons against Iranian-backed groups in the Yemeni Civil War.

What they're saying: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has been blocking the sale of weapons and released a statement saying Trump is ignoring long-term U.S. security interests and \"granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia,\" per the Washington Post.

Go deeper: Why the U.S. got (and stayed) involved in Yemen's brutal war

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Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":46890,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1588,"following_count":85,"position_count":548,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":887590,"body":"He likes to throw the word Treason around loudly and loosely! So let's use it in this context and see how big he tweets.","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":28296,"created_at":"2019-05-27T10:09:38.447Z","liked":false,"like_count":3,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/887590","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=887590&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":28296,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/887590.png","note":{"icon":"sad","color":"#5ACDED","stance":"sad"},"note_text":"Sad","note_color":"#5ACDED","user_id":"mpnLPaB6","liker_ids":["zm8wROXZ","Z76BEp8V","9odrQBnb"]}}

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