House Democrats Move to Block U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Over Safeguards

House Democrats introduced a resolution of disapproval on Thursday to block a nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, citing concerns that the deal lacks key nonproliferation safeguards. The move targets a 30-year agreement signed by the Trump administration in July and submitted to Congress in August, which would facilitate American collaboration on tens of billions of dollars of nuclear energy projects in the kingdom. The resolution was announced by Representatives Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Representatives Brad Sherman and John Garamendi of California, and Don Beyer of Virginia. They argued the pact "dangerously departs from decades of nonproliferation standards" because it does not require Saudi Arabia to forgo uranium enrichment and reprocessing or to accept enhanced inspections under the International Atomic Energy Agency's additional protocol.