Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE (D) said Sunday that the U.S. should reconsider its relationship with Saudi Arabia and “consider putting the brakes” on it.

Citing issues such as the execution of dissidents and the killing of U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the South Bend, Ind., Mayor said such activity is “wrong on either side of the gulf” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

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“We have a close relationship in many regards,” Buttigieg said. “We should consider putting the brakes on that relationship at a moment when, again, our values are being called into question because the president seems to think that a pending arms deal is more important than speaking up about the fact that an American resident, a journalist, was killed and dismembered.”

Buttigieg added that while “no two countries are the same,” the U.S. must “especially when we're talking about an ally where we might have some leverage … stand up for human rights and the things we believe in as a country.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.) last Thursday vowed that President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE would have a fight on his hands as he presses to realize a sweeping arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Pelosi said in New York that the House would soon vote to block the transfer of weapons to Riyadh, which the administration says is vital to protecting U.S. interests in the region amid escalating tensions with Iran.

"There will be a vote to remove any authority to make those sales to Saudi Arabia," Pelosi said. "This is something that we will fight, and we'll have bipartisan support to fight."

Her comments came a day after Senate opponents of the deal secured the 51 votes needed to block the transfer in the upper chamber.

It's unlikely, however, that either chamber could find the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto, as was the case last month when the Senate failed to override Trump's veto of increased military assistance to Yemen.

Opponents of the weapons deal are wary of granting any new assistance to Saudi Arabia in light of Riyadh's involvement in the civil war in Yemen, which has killed countless thousands of civilians and created a dire humanitarian crisis.

They're also loath to help the same Saudi leaders who, according to the CIA, ordered the assassination and dismemberment of Khashoggi.