After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but denied that the royal family and crown prince had any prior knowledge. The White House issued a statement Wednesday afternoon indicating that President Donald Trump would veto the bill if it were approved by Congress.
Graham, a Republican from SC, called the meeting "inadequate", and threatened to withhold his vote from all pending legislation - including a new government funding bill - until the Senate receives a Central Intelligence Agency briefing on the matter.
Until recently, the US was providing air refueling for Saudi warplanes, but the American military has continued to provide intelligence to the Saudis in Yemen's civil war, which pits the ousted Yemeni government, backed by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Wednesday's vote is a victory for senators Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, who have always been pushing for an end to USA support for the Saudi intervention. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who demanded that Haspel or someone from the intelligence community be there. Mike Lee of Utah, and Sen.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he switched his vote in favor of the resolution because CIA Director Gina Haspel did not testify and could not be grilled on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was aware of the plan to kill Khashoggi.
The US Senate has advanced a measure that would end American military support for the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen.
They will also be barred from entering into Canada.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has said that pulling American military support in Yemen and weapons sales to partners would be misguided.
Corker said the resolution was the only means available to address an imbalance in the Trump administration's and Riyadh's handling of Khashoggi's murder, if not the relationship overall.
Blunt, one of the two Senators from Missouri, received at least $19,200 in campaign contributions from firms representing Saudi Arabia in 2017, the CIP said, with Boozman, Burr, Crapo and Scott, representing Arkansas, North Carolina, Idaho and SC respectively, receiving contributions ranging from $1,000-$2,500 between 2016 and 2017.
Senatorial frustration is understandable, given that the administration sent Pompeo and Mattis to cheerlead the administration's policy of status quo with Saudi Arabia, but not an intelligence official who could provide answers to questions not tailor-made to fit the policy, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis said.
Mr. Trump has absolved the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the killing, putting the president at odds with those lawmakers and the C.I.A., which concluded that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, agreed with that sentiment.
Pressure has been mounting for the United States to end its support for the conflict.
The BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in Washington says opposition to the war in Yemen has gained momentum because of outrage at the administration's response to the killing and many in Congress want a tougher stance from the White House. But he said the United States does not have smoking gun evidence of MBS' role in ordering Khashoggi's murder.
"If that status quo is threatened, if fake news threats against journalists become the norm, then we no longer live in the democratic society that we used to", Harnett said in an interview.
Yet, MBS could not evade from protests of Tunisian people over the killing of Khashoggi nor global scrutiny that criticize his attendance to G20 summit.
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