A Democratic senator considered a likely swing vote on President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran said Wednesday he’ll vote to support it.
The announcement by Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana leaves 20 Senate Democrats undecided on the deal, more than the 13 needed to join all 54 Republicans in overturning an expected presidential veto of a disapproval resolution. But he was among those Democrats considered more likely to disapprove.
Donnelly was one of eight Democratic co-sponsors of bipartisan legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran. Another of the eight, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has said he’s leaning strongly toward supporting the deal as well.
In a statement Wednesday, Donnelly said the deal deserves a chance to prove it will work to prevent a nuclear Iran in spite of shortcomings critics say may make war inevitable.
“If that day does come, and I am faced with a vote to authorize military force against Iran, I owe it to the men and women of our Armed Forces and to the people of Indiana to have exhausted every other option to stop Iran before we would consider putting any of our service-members in harm’s way,” he said.
However, he also noted something several lawmakers have said is a reason for opposing the deal, saying “we have done too little for too long to cut off Iran’s support for terrorists and other proxies throughout the region, from [Syrian President Bashar] Assad in Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon and many more. It is time for the U.S. to lead our allies in a clear and decisive strategy to push back against Iran’s actions. I have raised this issue repeatedly as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I will continue to do so until we see action.”
