A bipartisan bill requiring President Obama to submit a nuclear deal with Iran to Congress is set to pass the Senate with “an overwhelming vote” as early as Thursday even if GOP conservatives continue to object, its lead sponsor said Tuesday.
Sen. Bob Corker told reporters after a Republican caucus meeting that negotiations with Democrats had resumed over possible changes to the bill to meet GOP senators’ concerns. Those talks had blown up last week after a parliamentary move by two conservative senators — Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marco Rubio of Florida — to force a vote on an amendment aimed at requiring Iran to recognize Israel as a condition of any deal.
“My sense is that Thursday there’s a very good chance that we’ll have an overwhelming vote” to pass the bill, the Tennessee Republican said.
Senate Democrats and the two independent senators have united behind the bipartisan compromise, which would give Congress 30 days to review a deal and decide whether to vote on a resolution of disapproval. If one is adopted, the bill allows another 22-day period during which Obama can veto the resolution and Congress could try to override his veto.
During that period, Obama may not waive any sanctions written into U.S. law. But if the disapproval resolution is not adopted over his expected veto, that restriction is lifted, clearing the way for an agreement to be implemented.
But conservative Republicans, pushed by activists on the Right, say the legislation concedes too much to a president they already suspect of abusing his authority. They have introduced dozens of amendments seeking tougher oversight of a potential deal, but most of those would turn Democrats against the final product, causing it to fail to meet the 60-vote threshold required to overcome a filibuster.
Corker said he was still holding out hope for a package of amendments that would address at least some of the GOP members’ concerns, but supporters are prepared to overwhelm opposition and move to end debate on the legislation if necessary. The bill has a veto-proof majority just from its 67 co-sponsors, and Corker has argued that it’s the only way for lawmakers to overcome Obama’s objections to submitting any deal to Congress.
“At the end of the day, no bill, no review. No bill, no oversight,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had widely been expected to move to end debate on the bill on Monday but did not, has been walking a fine line over the past week between his support for the compromise and conservatives’ demands that could cause it to fail.
But on Tuesday, the Kentucky Republican indicated he was ready to push it through.
“We’re going to move forward on the Iran bill today,” he said.
