According to congressional aides, the remarks came as the Trump administration prepares to sell arms to Morocco in the wake of a normalization agreement with Israel. Once the White House notifies Capitol Hill of the formally expected relocation, Congress will have 30 days to stop the sale.
Trump followed the same path with the United Arab Emirates, selling billion 23 billion worth of weapons to the Gulf nation after signing a normalization agreement with Israel. The Senate failed to stop that sale in a pair of votes on Wednesday.
The recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty by the United States over the Western Sahara is a break from the United Nations, the African Union, the International Court of Justice and the European Union. The Moroccan and Polisario fronts have long fought over the sovereignty of the former Spanish North African region.
In his speech, Enzof praised President Donald Trump for his efforts to promote Israeli recognition, but said he hoped the United States would return to its position on Western Sahara and call for a referendum on self-reliance for the Sahara people.
“There is no country that recognizes Morocco’s right to the Western Sahara,” Inhof said. “We can be sure that we will go back to the policy we had.”
Inhoff’s disagreement with the White House over Western Sovereignty is also in line with his efforts to get the National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress. Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA because it does not include repealing Article 230, which provides legal immunity to social media companies. Inhof has argued that Section 230 is not relevant to the defense bill and that Senate Republicans have pledged to override a potential veto earlier this week.
Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.
