A letter from Senate Republicans to Iran’s leadership has
divided the GOP and forced it to play defense, endangering the party’s chances
of passing a new round of sanctions that would kill President Obama’s nuclear
talks with Tehran.
The
talks have long divided Democrats, and just last month it appeared nearly
certain that Republicans would have enough votes in the Senate to override a
presidential veto of new sanctions.
That
has quickly changed, and the outrage over the letter from 47 Republicans to
Tehran is threatening to scuttle Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s
(R-Ky.) hopes of winning Senate approval of two bills that would hem in Obama’s
talks with Iran.
The
White House on Tuesday seized on the letter for a second day, lashing out at
the Republicans who sent it and calling it a “reckless” and “misguided” stunt.
The New
York Daily News used the headline “Traitors” with pictures of McConnell,
possible GOP presidential candidates Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul
(Ky.), and freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who spearheaded the letter.
The
conservative Wall Street Journal’s editorial board also ripped the letter,
calling it a “distraction” that let Obama change the subject.
GOP
infighting over the letter — seven Republican senators did not sign it — burst
into the open, with several Republicans criticizing their colleagues.
“It did
not seem to me to be appropriate for us to be writing the ayatollah at this
critical time during the negotiations, and frankly, I doubt very much that the
ayatollah would be moved by an explanation of our constitutional system,” Sen.
Susan Collins (R-Maine) told a group of reporters on Tuesday. Sen. Jeff Flake
(R-Ariz.) said the letter isn’t “helpful” or “productive.” “These are tough
enough negotiations as it stands,” he said. “And introducing this kind of
letter, I didn’t think would be helpful.”
Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he did not think
the letter “was something that would help get us to an outcome that we’re
seeking.” He also said it would not have been constructive for him to sign it
and expressed surprise that so many Republican senators did back it. “I just
didn’t even realize until this weekend that it had the kind of momentum that it
had,” he said.
Sens.
Dan Coats (Ind.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thad
Cochran (Miss.) are the other four Republican senators who didn’t sign the
letter.
Coats
and Murkowski are up for reelection in 2016.
The
Obama administration is seeking to reach a deal on a framework with Iran by the
end of the month that would remove sanctions on that country in exchange for
concessions meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. The U.S.
is seeking commitments from Iran that would ensure vigorous inspections and
limit the country’s ability to enrich uranium to the point where it would take
one year for Iran to acquire enough nuclear fuel to develop a weapon if it
broke an agreement.
Skeptics
of Obama’s diplomacy with Iran exist in both parties, and a number of Democrats
hailed a speech last week to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah,
who argued it would be impossible for Obama to negotiate a good deal with Iran
that would keep Israel safe.
Netanyahu’s
controversial address appeared to give Republicans some momentum, but Democrats
in the Senate quickly balked at a plan by McConnell to hold a procedural vote
this week on legislation sponsored by Corker and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
that would require Congress to review a proposed deal with Iran before it could
be approved.
The
Corker-Menendez bill itself is seen as a softer approach to a bill from Sen.
Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Menendez that would restore and impose new sanctions if
no deal is reached, or if Iran violates the deal. The sanctions bill appeared
to have a veto-proof majority earlier this year. Now, it’s not clear it would
get 60 votes.
Democrats
went to the Senate floor on Monday to denounce the Cotton letter, which
suggested that any deal with Iran could be undone after Obama leaves the White
House in 2017.
Vice
President Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations panel, said
the letter “threatens to undermine” the president’s ability to negotiate with
other countries. “The senators’ letter, in the guise of a constitutional
lesson, ignores two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the
ability of any future American President, whether Democrat or Republican, to
negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States,” he said in a
statement Monday night.
Even
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at a New York press
conference about the controversy over her private email account, sought to
hammer the GOP. She said the letter was “out of step with the best traditions
of American leadership.”
In a
statement, Coats pointed to the need to end the partisanship in order for
Republicans to win the policy battle.
“Though
we may disagree on tactics, we all recognize that bipartisan support is
necessary to override President Obama’s promised veto,” he said in a statement.
By Jordain Carney and Kristina Wong, 03/10/15 08:39 PM EDT,
The Hill.
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