--- title: Senate Bill Proposes Restrictions on Visas for Saudi Royals description: Senate Republicans are trying to punish Saudi Arabia without provoking Trump's veto by denying visas for some of the kingdom’s royal family canonical: https://time.com/5623516/senate-bill-restrict-saudi-royalty-visas/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-10T14:41:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:57:05.024Z article:section: Politics og:title: New Senate Bill Proposes Restrictions on U.S. Visas for Saudi Royal Family og:description: Travel restrictions would remain until Saudia Arabia progresses on human rights og:url: https://time.com/5623516/senate-bill-restrict-saudi-royalty-visas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83eb953f59d221e/6989ffca86f68e2bba6ed33c/senate-bill-saudi-visas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: New Senate bill proposes visa restrictions for Saudi royals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Senate Bill Proposes Restrictions on U.S. Visas for Saudi Royal Family twitter:description: Travel restrictions would remain until Saudia Arabia progresses on human rights twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83eb953f59d221e/6989ffca86f68e2bba6ed33c/senate-bill-saudi-visas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Senate Bill Proposes Restrictions on U.S. Visas for Saudi Royal Family > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel Flatley and Glen Carey / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Daniel Flatley and Glen Carey / Bloomberg Contributor Jul 10, 2019 2:41 PM UTC  Saudi Arabia's Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman al Saud speaks during talks at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, on June 29, 2019. Saudi Arabia's Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman al Saud speaks during talks at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, on June 29, 2019. Mikhail Svetlov—Getty Images by [Daniel Flatley and Glen Carey / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Daniel Flatley and Glen Carey / Bloomberg Contributor Jul 10, 2019 2:41 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — Senate Republicans seeking a way to punish Saudi Arabia over its human rights record without provoking a veto by President Donald Trump are trying a new strategy: denying visas for members of the kingdom’s royal family. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, plans to unveil legislation on Wednesday that includes a measure to bar members of the royal family who work in the Saudi government from entering the U.S., according to a person familiar with the legislation. If signed into law, hundreds of people could face the restrictions. “This legislation is an effort to move the U.S./Saudi relationship in a different direction and I am hopeful to have the support of my colleagues in doing so,” Risch said in a statement. “We are all in agreement that we need to see a change in Saudi conduct going forward, and this bill would have a real impact in doing that.” The bill has at least one Democratic co-sponsor: Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and the committee plans to vote on it this month, along with a bill from the panel’s ranking Democrat, Bob Menendez, to bar some arms sales to Saudi Arabia and impose sanctions over the killing of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi. That measure is co-sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally who nevertheless has urged the administration to take a tougher stance with the Saudis. The travel restrictions in Risch’s bill would remain in place until the kingdom shows progress on human rights. Demonstrable progress, as evaluated by a team of U.S. government agencies led by the State Department, could include the release of dozens of jailed dissidents, the person said. The measure is designed to put pressure on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, although he would not personally be denied a visa since heads of state and the Saudi ambassador would be exempt. Risch has been trying for months to craft legislation that could be signed into law by Trump. The bill has the tacit support of the White House, as members of the senator’s staff have had discussions with their counterparts with the administration, the person said. The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately provide a response to a request for comment about the measure. Risch usually backs the Trump administration on foreign policy, and he didn’t join the handful of Republicans who voted with Democrats last month to disapprove of the administration’s move to force the sale of $2 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia against Menendez’s opposition.That resolution was adopted in the Senate but fell short of the margin needed to override a presidential veto. The Democrat-led House is expected to vote on the measure this month. The Trump administration has cited threats from Iran as justification for rebuffing congressional concerns and invoking emergency powers to sell arms to the Saudis. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper will tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a Wednesday hearing that supplying arms to allies is “also in the interest and furtherance of our values,” according to his prepared remarks. Both houses of Congress voted to withdraw U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen over concerns about civilian casualties. 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