Senate Democrats for a second time blocked a measure disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal, setting in motion a Thursday vote on a bill that would set strict conditions on lifting sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Democrats remained unified in their effort to filibuster a resolution of disapproval of the nuclear deal, as 42 of them voted against advancing the measure to a final vote. That’s the same number of Democrats seen last week, enough to prevent Republicans from getting the 60 votes they needed to advance the resolution.
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With Democratic opposition anticipated, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced prior to the vote that he planned to bring up a measure that would make it nearly impossible for Obama to lift economic sanctions against Iran.
The measure would prohibit Obama from lifting the sanctions unless Iran released four jailed Americans and formally recognized Israel.
“Democrats seem to think they can end the discussion by blocking an up-or-down vote, then turn around and pretend they care deeply about Israel and human rights,” McConnell said. “I will file an amendment that would prevent the president from lifting sanctions until Iran meets two simple benchmarks. It must formally recognize Israel’s right to exist, and it must release the American citizens being held in Iranian custody.”
Democrats called on the GOP to give up on their effort to kill the accord. Instead, they argued, McConnell should move to legislation to fund the federal government, which runs out of money after Sept. 30.
“What is going on tonight is a charade by the Republicans to try to change the rules in the middle of the game,” Reid said in response to McConnell’s new measure. “Republicans have lost this measure. We should move on to something else, and it should be the budget.”
The vote followed hours of debate on the Iran deal, most of it from Republicans who opposed it.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., warned that if the deal is implemented, it would “unleash the furies of hell” by proving Iran with a massive amount of frozen assets that they would use to buy weapons and sponsor terrorism.
“They are going to continue their practice of supporting terrorist activities throughout the Middle East with another $100 billion dollars,” McCain said.
