Now that the Obama administration has secured enough Democratic senators to ensure the survival of the Iran nuclear deal, observers are asking if the White House can lock down another seven votes and save President Obama from having to veto a resolution disapproving the deal.
But White House spokesman Josh Earnest indicated Thursday that the White House isn’t ready to set that as an achievable goal. Earnest said the idea of blocking the disapproval resolution is a “significantly higher standard” than the White House’s original goal of guaranteeing enough “yeas” to sustain a promised veto if Congress passes the resolution.
Even though two more Democrats reportedly are going on record in supporting the deal — Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Cory Booker of New Jersey — Earnest wasn’t willing to set a new bar. If the White House can get 41 senators on board, they would be able to filibuster the resolution.
Instead, the White House is focused on letting Congress vote on the disapproval resolution and ensuring that Iran upholds its end of the bargain, Earnest said.
Obama will not recommend lifting punishing economic sanctions on Iran until Tehran has complied with all perquisites in the deal and accompanying annexes to do so, Earnest said.
Earnest also wasn’t willing to speculate on whether, when the time comes to lift sanctions, the White House will have the same battle on its hands with securing enough votes.
Undermining the product of nearly two years of talks led by the United States by withdrawing from or otherwise hampering the deal would not be in the best interests of the U.S., and any such vote to do so is “a little ways down the road,” Earnest said.
