August 26, 2015 4:54 pm
The White House is close to securing the votes it needs in Congress to keep the nuclear agreement with Iran on track despite fierce opposition from Republicans and a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against the deal.
A steady trickle of Democrats has come out in favour of the deal in recent days, giving the White House almost enough votes to prevent Congress from blocking the historic agreement, which was reached in Vienna last month.
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Some Democratic Senate aides believe there could even be enough support in the party to filibuster a resolution against the deal, which would mean the president would not need to actually wield a veto in order to secure his second term foreign policy priority.
If Congress were to vote to block the Iran deal, it would amount to one of the most important rebukes of a president’s foreign policy since the Senate opposed Woodrow Wilson’s plans for the US to join the League of Nations in 1919. The intense debate has included accusations that opponents of the deal are “warmongers” and claims that supporters have been playing with anti-semitism.
Democratic aides in Congress say party leaders are working hard to convince undecided members to support the deal and are still wary that new revelations could alter the political debate in Washington, but they are growing increasingly confident that the agreement will survive.
Support among Democrats has held up despite a ferocious lobbying campaign against the nuclear agreement worth more than $20m, including television advertising, much of which has been organised by pro-Israel groups. Jewish lobby groups in favour of the agreement have also sponsored television adverts, although on a smaller scale.
Patti Murray, the Washington Democrat who is the party’s fourth-ranking senator, on Tuesday became the latest senior figure to endorse the deal.
“I am convinced that moving forward with this deal is the best chance we have at a strong diplomatic solution,” she said in a statement. “It puts us in a stronger position no matter what Iran chooses to do, and it keeps all of our options on the table if Iran doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain.”
Her decision follows the announcement on Sunday that minority leader Harry Reidwould vote in favour of the deal. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure the deal stands,” the leading Democrat in the Senate said. “This is the best way, the only way, to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” Debbie Stabenow, a Democratic senator from Michigan, came out in support on Monday.
It puts us in a stronger position no matter what Iran chooses to do, and it keeps all of our options on the table if Iran doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain
- Patti Murray, Democratic senator
So far only two Senate Democrats have said they would oppose the deal — Charles Schumer, the New York senator who is expected to take over as minority leader next year, and Robert Menendez from New Jersey.
Congress has until mid-September to review the Iran agreement, which was reached last month, and to potentially vote on a resolution blocking the deal. To override a veto from the president, 67 senators and 290 members of the House of Representatives would need to vote against the agreement.
Needing only 34 votes in the Senate to sustain a veto and maintain the agreement, the White House now has 29 senators supporting the agreement and another four who are leaning towards supporting, according to the Washington Post, with eight other Democrats still undecided.
Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, told the Associated Press last week that she believed there was enough support for the deal in the House to uphold a presidential veto.
If opponents of the deal in the Senate cannot secure 60 votes against the agreement, Democratic leaders would be able to filibuster the resolution which would prevent the Senate from having a formal vote on the nuclear deal.
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