The White House reiterated President Obama’s threat to veto legislation requiring congressional approval of any deal with Iran but said new Democratic opposition to the bill may kill it before it reaches his desk.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he planned to bring a bipartisan measure to the floor next week that would require Obama to submit to Congress the text of any deal with Iran for approval.
But that move by McConnell sparked an immediate Democratic rebellion as Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a leading co-sponsor, and several other Democrats objected to the timing as a partisan move and said they would be forced to oppose their own bill.
The White House and the other international leaders involved in the nuclear talks with Iran are facing a March 24 deadline to produce an agreement. Obama has said he would veto the measure if it came to his desk while the negotiations with Iran are still ongoing.
“If it moves through the legislative process as this agreement is being negotiated and signed off on, then it would have the potential of undermining these negotiations and that’s why the president has indicated that he is strongly opposed to it and would veto it,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday.
Because many of the Democrats who support the legislation are now changing their mind because of “partisan tactics that are being employed by the Republican majority,” Earnest said Obama may not have to veto the bill because it may never get out of the Senate.
