WASHINGTON, July 29 (WNM/Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday failed to override President Donald Trump's veto of legislation passed by Congress that would have blocked the sale of certain weapons to Saudi Arabia.

By a vote of 45-40, the Senate fell short of the two-thirds votes needed to overturn a presidential veto. Five of the chamber's 53 Republicans voted to override the Republican president. Fifteen senators did not vote.

The Senate was also set to vote on Monday on two more veto overrides of legislation blocking weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

In May, the Trump administration announced that it would go ahead with more than $8 billion in military sales, sidestepping a congressional review process.

The legislation would have blocked the sale of Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions and related equipment.

Trump has argued that cutting off the Saudi weapons sales would weaken U.S. relations with a longtime ally and hurt U.S. competitiveness.