WASHINGTON, 04 December, 2020, (TON): The top Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he expected lawmakers to vote as early as next week on resolutions seeking to block Republican President Donald Trump’s $23bn weapons sale to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Senators worry the weapons sale to UAE could alter the balance of power in the Middle East and UAE could use the weapons in Yemen.

“We are gathering support for it, and I would think sometime next week,” Senator Bob Menendez told reporters on Thursday.

Menendez and two other senators Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Rand Paul announced on November 18 that they would introduce measures seeking to stop drones sale, F-35 aircraft and other weapons systems to the UAE.

The sale includes products from privately held General Atomics, Lockheed Martin Corp F-35s and missiles made by Raytheon.

It would take extensive support from members of Trump’s party to pass the resolutions and override an expected veto from Trump.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a foreign relations panel member and acting Intelligence Committee chairman, said he had not yet decided whether he would support the resolutions.

A sale to UAE will take years to close and then only with sustained congressional approval as the deal has stirred controversy. US weapons sale during Trump administration have amplified conflicts and heightened tensions among many countries. Lawmakers worry that the UAE would use the weapons in attacks in Yemen that would harm civilians who are already in the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.