Critics argue the FTO designation could exacerbate an already dire situation where millions of civilians rely on aid.

The formal decision to label the Yemeni militant group reverses President Joe Biden’s delisting in 2021, after more than a year of attacks on U.S. Navy and commercial vessels.

Some Senate Democrats are warming to the Trump administration’s decision to reimpose a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen — a move that the Biden administration refused to make throughout its term after previously delisting the group as terrorists in 2021 — while others remain skeptical.