Robert Menendez promised to vote against the agreement today during a speech in his home state.
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Menendez was asked later about President Obama’s rhetoric suggesting those who oppose the deal are actually making common cause with the Iranian hard liners chanting death to America.
Although not unexpected, Menendez’s opposition follows announcements by Sens. Menendez previously criticized the deal for preserving the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program, rather than ending it completely, and has advocated for continuing sanctions on Tehran. Even though Republicans control Congress and nearly uniformly oppose the agreement, they are unlikely to sway enough Democrats to form the two-thirds super-majority needed for a veto override.
“I support the JCPOA because it cuts off Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon and gives worldwide inspectors unprecedented access to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and supply chains”, Reed, Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.
Menendez has been critical of the multi-nation deal, in which Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for getting billions of dollars in relief from economic sanctions that have been choking its economy. He had a few things to say about President Barack Obama during the speech.
“This will be one of the most important votes I will ever take as a member of the Senate”, Georgia’s senior senator said.
Because Republicans are virtually unified against it, Obama needs all the Democratic support he can get on Capitol Hill in order to build a “firewall” against expected GOP resolutions of disapproval.
New Jersey’s Menendez is only the second Senate Democrat to oppose the accord reached between Iran and six world powers, after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.
Reps. Stephen Lynch, Niki Tsongas, Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton and Jim McGovern also support the deal.
The objective of the agreement, Menendez reminds us, was “to dismantle all, or significant parts, of Iran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure”.
With opposition from Schumer and Menendez, Republicans need just four more Democrats to pass a measure opposing the deal.
Alan Elsner, a spokesman for the US based Jewish group J Street which supports the deal, said: “We remain confident that the votes will be there ultimately to sustain the president’s veto in both houses” of Congress. “How far they ultimately militarized and weaponized their nuclear program is extremely important to know for global security”, he said. Here’s hoping his fellow Democrats set aside their partisan loyalty to Obama and listen. “What will be our ability to respond to Iran’s break out toward a nuclear weapon?”
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“I have shared the op-ed with a few people… but I don’t view myself as, quote, lobbying, because I don’t think it’s that kind of issue”, Corker said.
