White House press secretary Josh Earnest outlined the government's opposition to the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act", which gives US citizens the right to sue nation-states for possible links to 'terrorist' attacks on US soil and thus creates an exception to the doctrine of sovereign immunity established by a 1976 law. The law has hitherto guarded Saudi Arabia against potential lawsuits over the 9/11 attacks. Fifteen out of the 19 plane hijackers held Saudi nationality at the time of the attacks.
