As impoverished Yemen edges closer to famine, activists and lawmakers are ramping up pressure on the White House to restore tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance that was suspended by the Donald Trump administration last year. 

“Innocent civilians need our help now more than ever,” Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Monday, urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Gloria Steele, the acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to “implement assistance free of political considerations or pressure.” 

“Particularly in complex and protracted emergencies such as the one in Yemen, the delivery of neutral, impartial, and needs-based assistance is a humanitarian imperative," the senators said. 

Their call comes nearly a year after USAID suspended $73 million in aid to Houthi-held northern Yemen last March, citing concerns the Iran-aligned rebels were interfering with the distribution of humanitarian supplies. USAID set aside carve-outs to provide funding for “critical NGO activity” but aid agencies have described the exemptions as too narrow to be effective.