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Top Senate Republicans push to re-impose Houthi terror designation

The Biden administration rejected such an effort even as Houthi attacks ramped up in the Middle East

Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) is one of the leading Republicans looking to reimpose the FTO designation on the Houthis

A group of top Senate Republican lawmakers introduced legislation on Friday to re-impose a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation on the Houthis, a signal that the issue is likely to be a top priority for GOP hawks coming into the Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump imposed the FTO designation on the Houthis in his final days in office in 2020, but the Biden administration withdrew it in its early days, citing concerns that it could block humanitarian access in Gaza. 

The Biden administration re-implemented a separate terrorist designation that it rescinded along with FTO status last year, amid escalating Houthi attacks in the region, which conferred different sanctions authority, but rebuffed continued bipartisan pressure to reimpose the FTO designation.

The Trump transition team hasn’t definitively announced its plans on the issue, but the new administration could unilaterally re-impose the designation itself through executive order.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the lead sponsor of the bill, and will have the ability to push the legislation, entitled the Dismantle Iran’s Proxy Act, forward in his committee.

The bill would almost certainly receive bipartisan support, given that multiple Senate Democrats have urged President Joe Biden to reinstate FTO status and several voted for similar legislation in the House.

“After launching nearly daily attacks against American vessels in the Red Sea and Israel, the Houthis have ground international shipping to a standstill. This bill will restore President Trump’s historic decision to designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization and impose real costs that will force them to take notice,” Risch said in a statement. “Under this administration, the United States will return to President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran and safeguard American national security.” 

The bill would require the president to re-impose the FTO designation and impose sanctions on the Houthis within 30 days of the bill’s passage, and also would mandate that he assess whether to impose sanctions on several Houthi leaders and submit to Congress a strategy to ensure safe navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al Mandeb Strait and degrade Houthi offensive capabilities.

The legislation further requires the administration to report to Congress on the obstacles to humanitarian aid access in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, including whether the Houthis have blocked access to those areas or interfered with the delivery of aid or aid workers.

Other sponsors of the legislation include Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Katie Britt (R-AL) and Mike Rounds (R-SD).

Wicker, Cotton, Collins, Graham and Crapo chair the Senate Armed Services, Intelligence, Appropriations, Budget and Finance committees, respectively, lending significant heft to the legislation.

Risch’s office and the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment.

A bill re-imposing the designation passed the House by a 285-135 vote in the previous Congress.

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