File Photo: Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 20, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would direct U.S. government to end military support for Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen conflict.
The House passed the resolution in a 248-to-177 vote, sending the resolution to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to vote within 30 days.
The resolution, supported by 230 Democrats and 18 Republicans, would direct U.S. President Donald Trump to remove U.S. military forces from hostilities in or "affecting" Yemen within 30 days unless they are fighting al-Qaida or associated forces.
Senate passage of the Yemen resolution could confront Trump with the possibility of issuing the first veto of his presidency, U.S. media said.
The United States has been reportedly helping the Saudi-led coalition's fight against Houthi militants in Yemen with logistics, intelligence sharing and armament.
U.S. military also provided inflight refueling to coalition jets for long, but the Trump administration suspended that support in November.
Democratic lawmakers have been questioning the U.S. involvement in Yemen conflict. The Congress also urged the White House to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of Jamal Khashoggi, which the Trump administration has been reluctant to do.
The Trump administration declined to follow a congressional mandate deadline of Feb. 8 to report on whether Saudi leadership is responsible for Khashoggi's death.
The conflict in Yemen started in 2014 when the Houthi rebels took over the capital Sana'a and forced the government to exile to Saudi Arabia. Since 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, backing the government in exile, has been fighting the Houthis.
The fighting has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis and brought the impoverished Arab country to the brink of famine.
