Senate

GOP pushes for up-or-down Iran vote

by Jordain Carney - 09/14/15 1:55 PM ET

Ahead of Tuesday’s procedural vote, Senate Republicans are doubling down on their push for Democrats to allow for a final say on the Iran nuclear deal.

Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) suggested Monday that Democrats could face pressure back in their home states to allow the Senate to move forward with a resolution of disapproval.

{mosads}”My hope is that Senate Democrats will hear from their constituents and allow an up-or-down vote on President Obama’s Iran deal this week,” he said. “An issue of this magnitude deserves a vote in the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

A majority of Senate Democrats blocked the resolution on Thursday, depriving Republicans of the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) voted with Republicans.

Republicans have slammed Democrats for last week’s vote, with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) adding that it is “extremely disappointing” that Democrats blocked the resolution.

“This debate is not over yet. A better deal is possible, and the American people should accept nothing less,” she wrote on Monday in a Charleston Gazette-Mail op-ed.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) scheduled a second vote on Tuesday to try to end debate on a resolution of disapproval, suggesting that Democrats were trying to protect Obama from having to use a veto.

“It’s telling that Democrats would go to such extreme lengths to prevent President Obama from even having to consider legislation on this issue,” he said after last week’s vote.

But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted that Democrats would block the resolution again this week, telling reporters that it would be “dumb” for lawmakers to switch their votes.

Reid offered Republicans a deal that would have allowed senators to skip over procedural votes and move to a final vote on the Iran deal, but only if McConnell agreed to a 60-vote threshold for passage. The Kentucky Republican, however, rejected the offer.