Republican lawmakers announced their opposition to the deal “before the agreement was even announced”, he said.
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Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been pushing members of congress to oppose the nuclear agreement, which he considers a threat to his country’s survival.
AIPAC is one of the staunchest opponents of the nuclear agreement with Iran and is spending about $40 million to run TV advertisements in 35 states urging legislators to vote down the accord.
John Kerry, secretary of state and chief US architect of the deal, said Mr Schumer’s rejection of the deal “is not a policy for the future”.
“While inspectors would likely be able to detect radioactive isotopes at a site after 24 days, that delay would enable Iran to escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions (PMD) - the tools that go into building a bomb but don’t emit radioactivity”, Schumer said.
For more on lobbying surrounding the Iran deal and the move to oppose it, check out the reporting by our colleague Ailsa Chang.
Lawmakers will begin debating whether to reject the deal when they return from their August recess on September 8. Sen.
Mr Schumer insisted he was not influenced by party or politics and had not been put under pressure.
“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that can not simply be dismissed”, Schumer said in a lengthy statement on Medium.
“We’re very confident that we can hold that veto with the Democratic Caucus in the House and also the Senate”, Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor told CNN on Wednesday.
Senate majority leader McConnell fired back saying the President’s rhetoric was hurting more than helping.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s junior senator, announced her support on Thursday, hours before the announcement by Schumer. While Congress’ Republicans are basically united in their opposition to the deal, a few Democrats have also decided to vote it down.
President Barack Obama is trying to win over enough of his fellow Democrats to block Republican efforts to pass a “resolution of disapproval” that could cripple the deal, which is designed to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions. Since Schumer is a longtime friend of Israel and an influential guy among Democrats, this is seen as a big deal.
A subtext of the Iran issue is the tension between Schumer and the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and the implications for next year’s choice of a successor to Reid.
The defection of Schumer, who is expected to be the Democrats’ next leader in the Senate, brought a backlash from some former Obama aides and Democratic liberals.
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Schumer notified the White House of his decision before making his announcement, Earnest said. But the question would remain how hard Schumer – known for refusing to take “no” for an answer – would work to line up Democrats to join him in that vote.
