Democrats Introduce Bicameral Bill Banning Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia After OPEC+ Decision

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Oct. 11 introduced legislation that would ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia for a year.

Saudi Arabia, long one of the best allies of the United States in the otherwise turbulent and hostile region, has faced attacks by Democrats recently due to a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia (OPEC+) to cut oil production sharply.

On the morning of Oct. 5, OPEC+ announced that it would be cutting its oil production by two million barrels a day—a cut in production that will have tangible consequences for American consumers.

In its statement announcing the sharp downtick in production, OPEC+ cited “uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks.” The announcement marks the largest cut in oil production by OPEC+ since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, the world market produces around 100 million barrels of oil a day, meaning that the OPEC decision represents approximately a two percent cut in global production. The hit on consumers will be more than two percent, however, according to experts.

Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the cost of gasoline and other energy sources to consumers has already seen a substantial uptick. Though Biden managed to wrangle prices down a bit by pulling from the United States’ strategic reserves of oil, prices remain substantially higher than they were a year ago.

Republicans have placed the blame for rising costs squarely on Biden’s “anti-American” domestic energy policies.

A person uses the keypad on a pump at a gas station in Arlington, Va., on July 29, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

While in office, Biden made extensive changes to the energy policies of former President Donald Trump, who led America to become energy independent for the