House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) lashed out at the Obama administration on Tuesday following reports that the White House spearheaded efforts to kill a Democrat-backed bill to sanction embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
McCarthy's statement comes on the heels of a report disclosing the Obama administration's behind-the-scenes effort to delay a vote on a major bill to sanction Assad for war crimes and the murder of civilians.
McCarthy told the Washington Free Beacon in a statement that these efforts reveal how the Obama administration is quietly working to undermine U.S. allies and empower Western enemies.
"Reports of the Obama administration working to delay a vote on a bipartisan bill to sanction the Assad regime follow the now-familiar pattern of the president tolerating our enemies and neglecting our allies," McCarthy said. "The Assad regime and its allies are indiscriminately killing on a breathtaking scale, and this administration has done nothing substantial to stop them."
The report comes following the collapse of a new ceasefire agreement aimed at halting fighting in the war torn country.
"Given that the ceasefire agreement has essentially collapsed, I hope that the administration will allow congressional Democrats to move forward with this bill," the lawmaker said. "This bill could give us real leverage against Assad, but the administration has failed to recognize that."