The Republican-led Senate voted Thursday to block $8.1 billion in US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, as legislators outraged with the kingdom delivered a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump. Some seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting each of three resolutions that would prevent the controversial sales announced earlier this year by Trump. The measures would block 22 separate sales of aircraft support maintenance, precision-guided munitions and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan at a moment of heightened tensions in the Middle East. The votes were only assured this week when Republican leadership agreed to hold the sensitive roll calls on the arms sales that critics say will aggravate the devastating war in Yemen. Trump’s administration took the extraordinary step of bypassing Congress to approve the sale in May, as his administration declared Iran to be a “fundamental threat” to the stability of the Middle East. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the administration was responding to an emergency caused by Saudi Arabia’s historic rival Iran, which backs the Huthi rebels in Yemen. Senators, including some Republicans, said there were no legitimate grounds to circumvent Congress, which has the right to disapprove arms sales. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist on several other fronts, offered a full-throated rebuke of the arm sales — and of the Saudi leadership.