With Iran nuke deal, Washington shows it can work
WASHINGTON — For at least a few days, Washington may have actually worked.
Republicans and Democrats talked to each other. President Barack Obama and several members of his administration conversed with lawmakers, too. As a result, a Senate committee unanimously backed legislation to give Congress a say in the Iran nuclear talks. In the biggest surprise of all, the White House said Obama would sign the measure if it passed the full Congress.
For a capital city long stalled in gridlock, with the priorities of Republicans and Democrats rarely overlapping, it was a rare burst of bipartisanship — even if neither side wanted to admit it.
It took Obama spokesman Josh Earnest 45 minutes of questions from reporters before he acknowledged on Tuesday that the president would sign the new Iran legislation. Even then he said the White House wasn’t “particularly thrilled” with the outcome.
Republicans said the White House got boxed in when administration officials realized they would lose if it came down to a vote on a tougher Iran measure.
“I know there’s been some changes in the administration’s position,” said Republican Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “That change occurred when they saw how many senators were going to vote for this, and only when that occurred.”
Whether it was compromise or capitulation, it was the legislative process in action — something that Washington hasn’t
“I KNOW THERE’S BEEN SOME CHANGES IN THE ADMINISTRATION’S POSITION. THAT CHANGE OCCURRED WHEN THEY SAW HOW MANY SENATORS WERE GOING TO VOTE FOR THIS, AND ONLY WHEN THAT OCCURRED.”
— SEN. BOB CORKER
seen much of in the past few years.
The agreement helps Obama keep alive his hopes for a legacy-building nuclear deal. And it spares him — for now — from the embarrassment of Congress overriding a veto, which is where lawmakers’ efforts to weigh in on the Iran negotiations appeared to be heading.
The U.S. and its negotiating partners — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — reached a framework agreement with Iran on April 2 and have until June 30 to finalize an accord that aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.
Obama argued that Corker’s original legislation risked endangering a potential deal and leaving the U.S. to blame.
The president had pledged to veto Corker’s proposal that would give Congress 60 days to review any final nuclear accord. That original proposal also would have required the president to certify that Iran was not directly supporting or carrying out terrorism against the U.S. or Americans anywhere in the world, a tall order that the administration staunchly opposed.