Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) confirmed the Senate will vote on Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of legislation that would allow the families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia over its alleged links to terrorism.
The House is expected to vote on a veto override Thursday or Friday, a Republican leadership aide told Politico on Monday.
Congress is expected to smoothly secure the number of votes required to override a presidential veto. The move would mark the first veto override of Obama’s presidency.
The House passed the bill with no objections earlier this month, with congressional leaders calling the vote a "moral imperative" to allow victims’ families to pursue justice. The Senate easily passed its version of the bill in May.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, along with a number of 9/11 families, believe Saudi Arabia had a hand in the Sept. 11 attacks given that 15 of the 19 terrorists who participated were Saudi.
President Obama has lobbied fiercely against the legislation, arguing it would set a dangerous precedent that endangers American officials abroad. He vetoed the bill on Friday despite overwhelming congressional pushback.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, and Adam Smith (D., Wash.), the top Democrat on the committee, have circulated a letter urging congressional members to oppose the legislation, warning that it could subject U.S. officials abroad to retaliation.
Current U.S. law only allows victims to sue a country that is officially designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. The legislation would strike that prerequisite and allow citizens to pursue legal action against any nation suspected of terrorism.
Saudi officials have denied involvement in the 9/11 attacks and Riyadh has never been formally implicated.