Democratic senators set up vote on blocking Saudi nuclear deal

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a measure Thursday that would block President Trump’s deal to allow Saudi Arabia to build a civilian nuclear program. The Democrats’ measure is a joint resolution of disapproval, a legislative tool that requires a vote after Nov. 29.

The senators expressed concern that the deal gives Saudi Arabia access to U.S. technology for civilian nuclear energy but does not contain sufficient guardrails against Riyadh using that tech to create nuclear weapons. 

“It is essential that nations pursuing civilian energy programs agree to the ‘gold standard’ of restrictions on fuel reprocessing and enrichment and rigorous inspections to ensure that a nuclear energy program doesn’t become a covert nuclear weapons program,” Merkley said in a press release.

Trump inked the deal with the Saudi government in late July to allow U.S. companies to develop Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy infrastructure over 30 years. It does not need approval from Congress but will not go into effect until a 90-day window has closed, giving lawmakers time to debate if they want to block the deal. 

Democrats in the House have introduced an identical measure. But both resolutions face tall odds, especially in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to move forward, and a signature from Trump to reverse the deal, which is improbable.

Trump said at the time that the deal would hinge on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a regional treaty centered on normalization of relations with Israel that Trump brokered in 2020. That is not part of the deal signed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, but Wright told reporters at the time that negotiations over the accords would “be worked in parallel” with the progress of the nuclear deal. 

While Republican senators generally support the deal, some indicated at the time they wanted more information about the constraints the agreement would put on nuclear weapons development. 

“So I think the positive is they’ve become a member of the Abraham Accords, which I think is a big deal in trying to create peace in the Middle East, so I think that’s a real positive,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told reporters in July. “I don’t know enough detail about the limitations of their usage. I want to understand that better.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also said at the time that the Abraham Accords piece was reassuring to him, and that the agreement was generally in line with what other nations are allowed to do. 

“But there’s a lot of countries around the world that have civilian nuclear energy capacity who are subject to inspections by the IAEA and transparency, and they don’t necessarily enrich, which is the path to a nuclear weapon,” Cornyn said. “What I’ve learned about it so far doesn’t cause me concern.”