U.S. House To Vote Next Week On Iran Nuclear Deal
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on a measure disapproving the Iran nuclear deal, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced on September 2.
The House will begin debating the measure on September 9 and will vote by September 11, according to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The U.S. Senate is also scheduled to begin debating the Iran measure when it returns from recess on September 8.
McCarthy (Republican-California) predicted that the Republican-dominated House would solidly reject the deal. Virtually all Republicans oppose it and at least 14 House Democrats have also announced their opposition.
"With a clear majority of Congress and the American people lining up in opposition to this deal, the House will not approve this deal. This is a bad deal for our country and for our allies," McCarthy said.
"This vote will have an immense impact on our national security as well as the security of our friends and partners around the world," he added.
But Pelosi (Democrat-California) told fellow Democrats on September 2 that she was confident that in the end, Democrats would ensure the deal survives by mustering enough votes to sustain President Barack Obama's veto of the Republicans' disapproval resolution.
"By the end of this week, well over 100 House Democrats will have made their support for the agreement public. With these public statements and private commitments, I am certain that we will uphold the president’s veto," Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats.
With the vote now only days away, Pelosi urged undecided House Democrats to state their positions as soon as possible.
Even as the House moved to vote, the White House secured the final vote needed to ensure Obama's veto cannot be overriden in the Senate.
Retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski (Democrat-Maryland) became the 34th senator to announce support for the Iran deal, giving Democrats the one-third plus one vote they need to sustain a veto in that 100-member chamber.
