The number two House Republican backed a Senate proposal to give Congress the ability to review the deal the U.S. and other nations are negotiating with Iran.
“It’s my intention to bring it to the floor of the House and move it,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, told reporters Monday, in the first comments by a top House GOP leader on the legislation since the Obama administration announced a framework deal with Iran earlier this month.
McCarthy told reporters he spoke Monday morning with bill sponsor Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee, who told him his measure is “moving very strongly in the Senate.”
The legislation’s Senate supporters, who include the number three Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, are closing in on a veto-proof majority. The bill would prohibit the president from waiving sanctions on Iran imposed by Congress while lawmakers vote on the proposal.
The House majority leader wouldn’t promise that the House could provide enough votes to override an expected presidential veto, saying it would depend on how the Senate vote played out. But he predicted a big Senate vote would boost the chances of overcoming that threshold in the House, saying, “I think they are going to have a very high number.”
All House members are scheduled to receive a classified briefing from Secretary of State John Kerry and other Administration officials on the Iran deal on Monday evening.
Marie Harf, acting State Department spokeswoman, told reporters Kerry will tell lawmakers “what the oversight role could look like in terms of how this moves forward from here, what role they could play, while, at the same time, preserving our ability to implement an agreement if we can get to one and certainly preserving presidential prerogative.”
But Harf declined to say what if any fallout there could be on the negotiations with Iran if the Corker bill passed.
McCarthy predicted the briefing on the Iran framework would be well attended, saying it would be a “one of the most filled auditoriums, and there’s going to be as many questions on the Democrat side as on the Republican side.”
The majority leader blamed President Barack Obama for making the issue of Iran more divisive and pointed out that Schumer and other congressional Democrats are also skeptical of the emerging deal, which negotiators are scheduled to complete in June.
The Senate Foreign Relations panel will consider the Corker measure on Tuesday but it’s unclear when a full Senate vote would take place. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated on Monday that the President would veto the Corker bill as it is currently drafted.