In their final days in power, House Republicans push the Farm Bill to a floor debate with a hidden provision that blocks a vote on any legislation surrounding War Power resolutions for the remainder of the year. The U.S. Senate was prepared to “vote on a resolution to cut military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen,” and expected to pass the proposal on Wednesday, Common Dreams reported. But the House “stymied” the plan introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
The Saudi-led war has killed at least 10,000 civilians in Yemen.
“This is why people hate Congress,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who introduced the Yemen resolution, said in response to the move. “Speaker Ryan is not allowing a vote on my resolution to stop the war in Yemen because many Republicans will vote with us and he will lose the vote. He is disgracing Article 1 of the Constitution, and as a result, more Yemeni children will die.”
Backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the 1973 War Powers Resolution would allow Congress to end U.S. support of the war, but Republicans in the House Rules Committee wrote “The provisions of section 7 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546) shall not apply during the remainder of the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress to a concurrent resolution introduced pursuant to section 5 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544) with respect to Yemen.”
The advancement of the Farm Bill will cost $867 billion over 10 years devoted to programs such as SNAP and expand safety-net programs for crop producers and dairy farmers. It left out the stricter work requirements that House Republicans sought out for people on food stamps, which progressives are celebrating.
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