Senate Republicans don’t doubt the Iranian regime’s knowledge of the U.S. constitutional system and the role of Congress in approving treaties.
But they say they are frustrated by President Obama’s repeated efforts to minimize Congress’ influence as he barrels toward an agreement with Iran to limit Tehran’s nuclear capability. That’s why it took only a few days last week for freshman Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas to secure the support of 46 of his GOP colleagues for an open letter to Iran.
The letter cautions Tehran that the Republican-controlled Congress will not recognize any executive agreement that is not approved by Congress. It also warns that such a deal would be subject to unilateral cancelation by the next president in January 2017, when Obama’s successor assumes office. In reality, the point was to send a message to the White House: Stop ignoring us.
The last straw, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Tuesday, was Obama’s threat to veto bipartisan legislation that would force the administration to seek Congressional approval for a deal. Graham, who is flirting with running for president, noted that he sided with Democrats and pushed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to postpone a vote on that bill until the March 24 deadline for the conclusion of the latest round of Iran negotiations.
“When the president threw a veto threat in the middle of the mix, it was a challenge to us as a body that [said] ‘I don’t care about what you have to say, I’m not going to let you review the deal, I’m going to stop the legislative process,’ ” Graham told reporters.
Most Republicans, and many Democrats, oppose the contours of a deal as they have been outlined by the administration. Public opinion polls show voters also are doubtful that it will succeed in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. That didn’t stop Senate Democrats from slamming Cotton’s letter as counterproductive and an underhanded attempt to rattle the Obama administration.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Cotton didn’t deny that the letter was an attempt to assert Congressional influence over the talks between the U.S. and European nations on one side, and Tehran on the other. The Arkansas Republican said that he circulated the letter among Democrats as well as senators in his own party, but received no takers.
“The overreaction, as well as the obsession with process and protocol masks the fact Barack Obama and other Democrats know they can’t defend the terms of this deal,” Cotton said.
The letter Cotton drafted reads as a tutorial on constitutional procedure and the role of the legislative branch in U.S. foreign policy.
But the underlying purpose was to encourage Iran’s leaders to think twice about the viability of an executive agreement they reach with Obama that Congress otherwise opposes. Senate Republicans hope fresh concern about any deal’s longevity among those inside the Iranian regime might make it more difficult for the negotiating parties to reach a deal that members of Congress find unacceptable.
“We wanted to have complete confidence that Iran’s leaders understand that Congress must approve the deal if Congress is going to accept the deal,” Cotton said. “The deal that’s been discussed in the media by the president and his own national security advisor, right now, is very dangerous because it sets Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon sooner or later.”
“But regardless,” Cotton continued. “Congress has to approve, certainly, a nuclear weapons agreement with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, for it be binding and lasting on the United States.”
