By Jordan Fabian and Katie Bo Williams - 09/30/16 06:01 AM EDT
New York Rep. Pete King (R) had a warning for his colleagues in early September.
They didn’t want to get on the bad side of victims’ families as the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approached.
Two days before the anniversary, family members were scheduled to hold an event on the Capitol steps to demand action on a bill that would allow them to sue Saudi Arabia for the attacks.
King recognized the power of the moment.
The political clout of the 9/11 families helps explain why Congress this week overwhelmingly voted to override President Obama’s veto for the first time on the measure.
It was a stunning failure for the White House, which lashed out at lawmakers, calling the vote the “single most embarrassing thing” they had done in decades.
A day after the override, GOP leaders were already talking about making changes to the bill as the White House and Capitol Hill bickered over the events of the week.
Here’s how the Saudi-9/11 bill became a snowball rolling downhill, with all but the White House and Saudi government getting out of the way.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/298635-how-the-white-house-got-rolled-on-the-saudi-bill
