Senate fails to block US arms sales to Saudi Arabia after Trump's vetoes

Vote comes as report claims president's billionaire friend sought to influence policy towards Saudis

The Senate has failed to pass legislation blocking the sale of $8.1bn (£6.5bn) worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

It follows presidential vetoes issued by Donald Trump to override previous resolutions in Congress attempting to halt the controversial arms sale.

Politicians in both parties fear it could see the give-away of sensitive US nuclear technology, and expressed concern US armaments could be used by the Saudis on civilians in Yemen.

Despite the bipartisan pushback and a vote of 45-40 on Monday, the Senate fell short of the two-thirds votes needed to overturn a presidential veto. Five of the chamber’s Republicans voted with their Democratic colleagues.

The White House argued that stopping the sales would send a signal that the US doesn’t stand by its partners and allies at a time when threats from hostile countries such as Iran are increasing.

Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey said the pending sale was “not only is a Saudi jobs program, it is also a give-away of sensitive US military technology”.

The failed Senate vote comes as the House Oversight Committee released a report criticising the Trump administration over its apparent willingness to allow the president’s friends undue influence over US policy towards Saudi Arabia.

New documents obtained by the committee “raise serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the president’s friends above the national security of the American people”, the report said.

The 50-page oversight study said Mr Trump’s friend, campaign donor and inaugural chairman, Tom Barrack, negotiated directly with the president and other White House officials to seek positions within the administration, including special envoy to the Middle East and ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

At the same time, Mr Barrack was promoting the interests of US corporations seeking to profit from the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia and taking steps for his own company, Colony NorthStar, to profit from the proposals, the report claimed.

Tom Barrack speaks with members of the press at Trump Tower in 2017 (REUTERS)

One of the companies leading an effort to build nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia, IP3 International, repeatedly pressed the Trump administration not to require the kingdom to commit to a rigorous “gold standard” in any agreement with the US, the report said.

IP3 officials had “unprecedented access” to the highest levels of the Trump administration, including meetings with the president, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and cabinet secretaries Rick Perry, Steven Mnuchin, Mike Pompeo, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis and Wilbur Ross, the report said.

The report “exposes how corporate and foreign interests are using their unique access to advocate for the transfer of US nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia,” said congressman Elijah Cummings, the committee’s Democratic chairman.

Mr Cummings has come under attack from Mr Trump in recent days, with the president describing his Baltimore district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live”.

Additional reporting by agencies