The measure is a joint resolution and must pass both the Senate and the House before it would go to the President's desk. It's unclear if House Speaker Paul Ryan will allow a House vote on the Corker plan if it passes the Senate, and a spokesperson for Ryan has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The measure serves as an implicit rebuke of the President's own response to the death of Khashoggi and is one of several legislative efforts to target the crown prince and the Trump administration's policy towards Saudi Arabia.
The introduction of Corker's resolution comes as the Senate holds a vote on one of the other measures, a resolution to stop US support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The resolution introduced by Corker states that the Senate "believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi" and "calls for the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure appropriate accountability for all those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder."
Corker, an outgoing Tennessee Republican who has not hesitated to express criticism of the President, told CNN that he had expected his resolution to be voted on next week, but now believes that "hopefully" Democrats will give unanimous consent to do it on Thursday, shortly after the Yemen war powers bill clears.
"It is very widely supported," Corker said, adding that "hopefully," there will be a vote Thursday afternoon.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said, however, that he is concerned that clearing the measure quickly could "take the heat off Republicans to do something more," though he didn't rule out taking it up on Thursday.
"I haven't seen the text," Murphy said, adding, "I likely wouldn't have any problem with his text," but saying that he believes "there are questions as to whether that will take the heat off Republicans to something more."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged senators not to vote for the Yemen resolution and instead urged support for the Corker resolution, which he said, "does a good job capturing bipartisan concerns about both the war in Yemen, and the behavior of our Saudi partners."
Republican senators emerged from a classified briefing on the Khashoggi murder earlier this month suggesting that there was little doubt that the Saudi crown prince should be held responsible.
"You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intrinsically involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a critic-turned-ally of Trump's, at the time.
The President, however, has steered clear of blaming the Saudi leader.
"He's the leader of Saudi Arabia. They've been a very good ally," Trump told Reuters on Tuesday in an Oval Office interview.
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