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White House persuades Congress to ease up on Saudi Arabia

The White House convinced Congress to water down a key defense bill by removing language penalizing Saudi Arabia for the Yemen war and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
A general view of the White House in Washington September 30, 2013. The White House on Monday sought to quash any possibility that President Barack Obama would raise the U.S. debt ceiling by himself should Congress fail to do so before a mid-October deadline, as some have suggested he should.  REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - GM1E9A10N6L01

The White House successfully pushed Congress to remove language in the annual defense bill that would have imposed concrete penalties on Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The House amended the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 240-185 in July to block US funding for the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. At the same time, the House passed another NDAA amendment 405-7 in a veto-proof vote to sanction Saudi officials complicit in Khashoggi’s murder.

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