Congressional opponents of the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war just got a big boost from an unexpected source.

By Spencer Ackerman @ DailyBeast.com, Oct. 30

[....] The Charles Koch Institute, bearing the brand of one of the most influential sources of conservative political money, is backing an effort spearheaded by progressive California Democrat Ro Khanna to demand either an end to non-counterterrorism aid to the Yemen war or a direct congressional vote authorizing it.

Multiple congressional and allied sources told The Daily Beast they plan to bring their resolution to a vote in the House during the November lame-duck session after the midterm elections. And they think they can win.

This cross-ideological coalition has tried and failed before—most recently, in March, when Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Mike Lee of Utah lost 55-44 to end American midair refueling and intelligence support for the Saudi and Emirati forces assaulting Yemen. But this time, the antiwar legislators and their allies believe bipartisan outrage at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [....] can put them over the top,

“Given divergent strategic interests and very different values, the United States has long needed to modify our relationship with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s callous prosecution of a war in Yemen that undermines our interests and the heinous murder of Khashoggi both underscore this,” said the Charles Koch Institute’s vice president of research and policy, William Ruger. “A realistic foreign policy often requires difficult trade-offs when security needs and values collide. But in this case, they are in harmony such that we can safely change our approach.” [....]