Democrats block GOP effort to push US sanctions on ICC through Senate

US Senate Democrats have blocked a Republican effort to advance legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrants it issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

A vote to invoke cloture has fallen six lawmakers short of the 60 needed in order to bring the legislation to a floor vote.

The 54-45 vote result means that the Democrats will be able to continue filibustering the legislation and will likely require Republicans to resume negotiations with the Democrats aimed at reaching a compromise on the matter — one that at the very least will likely require tweaking the legislation that already passed the Republican-led House.

Sen. John Fetterman is the only Democrat who votes with Republicans to advance the bill.

The Biden administration had refrained from backing the effort, and Democrats apparently have decided to double down on that stance to block the bill.

But it’s unclear whether the Congressional legislation will be necessary, given that US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office restoring sanctions he had instituted during his first term against the ICC, which former president Joe Biden revoked with his own executive order.