The House on Thursday voted to advance a trio of measures related to the Iran nuclear deal, including a measure that would prevent President Obama from lifting U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
In a straight party-line vote, members approved a rule allowing debate and votes on the three bills, a process that will conclude on Friday. Every Republican supported the rule, even though many conservatives just a day ago were at odds over how to stop Obama from implementing the nuclear deal that they staunchly oppose.
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“This deal endangers the safety, security and stability not only of America but the entire world,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said the deal is no way to handle the growing threat of Iran, and said of the agreement, “this is weakness.”
On Wednesday, Republican leaders pulled a resolution from the House floor that would have disapproved of the Iran nuclear accord after conservatives said it would do nothing to stop it since it would not survive a presidential veto.
Instead, the House will vote on a resolution of approval, a move House Speaker John Boehner said avoids letting Democrats “off the hook” for backing a deal that has grown increasingly unpopular in public opinion polls. The approval resolution won’t succeed, and will let Republicans say the Iran deal was never approved by Congress.
Lawmakers will first vote on a measure that will rebuke Obama with a “sense of the House” that he did not provide the necessary information on the deal that is required under law. That non-binding resolution also argued that because of this failure, the 60-day review period should never have been triggered.
Members will also vote on a bill prohibiting Obama from lifting sanctions against Iran, which should also pass, although it will only become law if passed by the Senate and signed by Obama.
Democrats denounced the GOP’s three-pronged approach and called it a tactic aimed at derailing the deal. Most Democrats have announced they support the deal, despite acknowledging its shortcomings.
“It’s a question of this agreement or no agreement,” Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said. “That is the question we face.”
Final votes on the three bills will take place later Thursday and conclude Friday, the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
