One day after announcing his support for the Iran nuclear deal, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said he wants the Senate to get an opportunity to vote on the proposal.
“I think it would be really regrettable if we didn’t ultimately go to the floor and cast our votes for or against this deal,” Coons said Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Coons’ support put the Obama administration just one vote away from the number needed to keep the Republican majority, which is opposed to the deal, from snagging enough Democratic support to override President Barack Obama’s veto on a motion disapproving of the proposal.
As Coons and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, announced Tuesday their support.
Their support, coming off a wave of all but two Senate Democrats moving to endorse the deal, has shifted the conversation to whether Democrats will look to block a vote on the deal altogether by filibuster — which would require just 41 senators supporting the proposal. Currently, 33 senators have formally backed it.
But while Coons said “there should be” a vote on the deal, he rested the fate of that vote squarely on the shoulders of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the top Republican’s ability to reach an agreement with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to cut down debate time.