Faced with a likely Democratic filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday postponed a vote on a bill that would allow Congress to reject or approve any deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
The vote was scheduled for Tuesday, but McConnell, R-Ky., decided against trying to move the bill – co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J. - because of the expected procedural roadblock by Democrats.
‘It is clear that Senate Democrats will filibuster their own bill—a bill they rushed to introduce before the White House cut a deal with Iran,’ Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, told Politico. ‘So, instead, the Senate will turn next to the anti-human-trafficking legislation while Democrats decide whether or not they believe they and Congress as a whole should be able to review and vote on any deal the President cuts with the leaders of Iran.’
The Obama administration and many congressional Democrats oppose taking action on Iran while the U.S. and five other countries are negotiating a yet-to-be-completed nuclear deal with the Tehran government.
McConnell fast-tracked the bill onto the Senate calendar Tuesday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress about the dangers of a nuclear Iran.
Nearly 60 Democrats from the Senate and House of Representatives boycotted that speech. Many of them called House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to invite Netanyahu to Capitol Hill while the administration is negotiating with Iran, and as the prime minister faces a tough re-election bid on March 17, a partisan political act.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said McConnell ‘made the right decision by heeding calls from Democrats and Republicans to back off his transparently political move.’
‘Protecting Israel and the world from a nuclear-armed Iran is too important of an issue to use in partisan political games,’ Reid said. ‘As leaders we should seek to build and cultivate bipartisan support for Israel, not try to score cheap political points.’
Email: wdouglas@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @williamgdouglas.
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