Senate Democrats blocked a Republican effort to voice disapproval of Obama’s Iran deal Thursday, in a major victory for the administration that ensures there won’t be a veto fight over the deal.
Republicans wanted to force their voice into the international conversation on the deal by holding a vote on the resolution that would allow Congress to officially condemn the deal, but the Democratic filibuster Thursday ensures that won’t happen.
Iran’s parliament, however, will get a chance to ratify or reject the deal. “It is up to them to decide,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said about the deal.
“Democratic senators just voted to filibuster and block the American people from even having a real vote on one of the most consequential foreign policy issues of our age,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor Thursday.
A recent Quinnipiac poll found 55 percent of U.S. voters oppose the deal, compared to just 25 percent who support the deal. Another survey found deep skepticism of the deal among U.S. active-duty military and civilian government employees in national-security jobs. Only 26 percent of those surveyed by Defense One said the deal is good for the U.S., while 66 percent said the deal is not good for the U.S.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called the 42 Democrats who derailed the will of 58 senators a “clarion voice” of the Senate in support of the deal.
Obama worked for weeks to win support from Democrats for the deal, and only last week won enough senators to uphold what seemed like would be a necessary veto of the Republican resolution. The new-found support prevents what could have been an embarrassing vote and veto fight for the administration.
Supporters of the deal argue it’s the best and only option to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but critics say Iran is unlikely to live up to its side of the bargain, and that lifting sanctions will dangerously bolster its government.
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