White House opposes Senate blocking Bahrain FMS deal

The White House is resisting a Senate resolution that would oppose a planned $300 million foreign weapons sale to Bahrain.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is behind the resolution, arguing Bahrain is “a member of the Saudi-led coalition waging a devastating war in Yemen that has killed thousands of innocent civilians and left millions of Yemenis on the edge of famine.”

According to Paul's office, the Senate will vote on the resolution this afternoon.

In a statement of administration policy released this morning, The White House said this morning the sale involves 120 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System pods and 110 Army Tactical Missile System pods.

“Apart from negatively impacting our bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Bahrain, the joint resolution would hamper our ability to build and maintain security cooperation relationships, and sustain our pressure campaign against al Qaeda and ISIS. Bahrain also plays a critical role in countering and exposing harmful Iranian activities and proxies in the region,” the White House said.

Bahrain is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, forward-deployed U.S. Marine Central Command and the Combined Maritime Force.