Politics & Government

Powerful Sen. Chuck Schumer backs Iran bill White House opposes

By William Douglas - McClatchy Washington Bureau

April 07, 2015 02:42 PM

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 25, 2015. Schumer strongly supports a bill that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up next week that could give Congress a way to scuttle the interim nuclear deal the White House and five world powers reached with Iran last week.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 25, 2015. Schumer strongly supports a bill that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up next week that could give Congress a way to scuttle the interim nuclear deal the White House and five world powers reached with Iran last week. AP
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 25, 2015. Schumer strongly supports a bill that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up next week that could give Congress a way to scuttle the interim nuclear deal the White House and five world powers reached with Iran last week. AP

Senate Minority Leader in-waiting Charles Schumer strongly supports a bill that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up next week that could give Congress a way to scuttle the interim nuclear deal the White House and five world powers reached with Iran last week.

Schumer’s backing of the bill puts him squarely at odds with Obama, who opposes the measure. But the New York Democrat insists that his support doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s rejecting the interim nuclear deal. Aides said Tuesday that he’s studying the deal.

"This is a very serious issue that deserves careful consideration and I expect to have classified briefing in the near future," Schumer said in a statement Monday. "I strongly believe Congress should have the right to disapprove any agreement and I support the Corker bill which would allow that to occur."

Schumer was referring to the bill co-authored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. It would require Obama to give Congress 60 days to review the Iran deal and block the White House from immediately easing sanctions imposed on the Tehran government.

Schumer, who is in line to succeed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 2017, signed on to the Corker-Menendez bill two weeks ago. His support increases the prospects of a veto-proof majority in Congress for an Iran measure.

It also gives the measure a powerful Democratic name after Menendez relinquished his title of ranking Democrat on the foreign relations committee following his indictment on federal corruption charges last week.

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