Much hash has been made about President Obama’s refocus on foreign policy in the aftermath of an election that wounded his party’s political ranks. That initiative may have suffered an equally damaging blow this morning, as Senator Jon Kyl — the GOP lead on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — said that it was unlikely that Obama’s prized nuclear weapons treaty will be passed during the lame duck session of Congress. On his website this morning, Kyl announced:
That would push START back to the 112th Congress, which convenes in January. President Obama would then need to secure 7 additional GOP votes from new members, perhaps putting the treaty’s passage out of reach for an administration that just recently launched an aggressive, multi-front push to ensure ratification during the lame duck session of Congress.
