WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s decision to list the Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity. President Biden removed the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group, which was previously issued by the Trump administration, in February 2021:

“This designation is a step in the right direction, but it comes way too late to have any practical effect. It falls short of the foreign terrorist organization designation that the Trump administration put into effect. Further Houthi attacks on commercial shipping or U.S. sailors should be met with a response that makes last week’s strike in Yemen look small in comparison,” Senator Wicker said. “President Biden should have never removed the foreign terrorist organization designation. He is still bent on half-measures at every step of the way. It was naive to think this group has ever been anything other than radicals pursuing a terrorist agenda. The Biden administration should re-designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) as part of a broader strategy to end their assault on our partners and global shipping.”

Senate Republicans have long called on the administration to return to the Trump-era policy – which was undone by President Biden early on in his term.