Defense

Overnight Defense: Senate readies for second Iran vote

by Rebecca Kheel - 09/14/15 6:03 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: Senate Republicans are pushing their Democratic colleagues to allow a resolution of disapproval on the Iran nuclear deal to move forward.

Days after Senate Democrats blocked the resolution on a procedural vote, Republicans warn the minority will pay a political price for the objections.

“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,” Sen. Dan Coates (R-Ind.) said Monday. “An issue of this magnitude deserves a vote in the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

On Thursday, 42 Senate Democrats blocked the resolution. Republicans needed 60 votes to move forward, and they only won 42.

Nothing is likely to change on Tuesday, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is using the series of votes to drive home the political message that Democrats are protecting President Obama, who likely would be forced to veto the resolution if it moved through the Senate.

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

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters it would be “dumb” for lawmakers to switch their votes.

POLL: MORE THAN HALF EXPECT IRAN TO BREAK DEAL: More than half of Americans think Iran will violate the terms of the nuclear agreement, according to a new CNN/ORC poll released Monday.

Should Iran violate the deal, 64 percent said America should respond with military action.

The CNN/ORC poll, which surveyed 1,012 adults by phone, found that 49 percent want Congress to reject the Iran pact.

Thirty-seven percent said they think it’s extremely likely Iran will violate the deal, while 23 percent think it’s very likely. Only 10 percent think it is unlikely Iran will violate the deal.

Along party lines, 83 percent of Republicans think it’s likely Iran will break the deal, while 58 percent of independents and 44 percent of Democrats think Iran will break it.

Also, 59 percent said they disapprove of the way Obama is handling Iran, while 37 percent said they approve.

Almost half of respondents, 49 percent, said they think Iran is a very serious threat, while just 7 percent said they think Iran is not a threat at all.

OFFICIAL: SEQUESTRATION COULD BRING ARMY TO ‘BREAKING POINT’: Spending cuts could force the U.S. Army to a “breaking point” of too few soldiers, a top defense official is warning.

In an interview published Monday by Stars and Stripes, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Brad Carson discussed sequestration’s affect on different parts of the military.

“If sequestration holds, it’s possible the Army could be forced down to 420,000 [active-duty soldiers],” said Carson, who previously served in Congress. “The Army’s near breaking point if you go that low, I think.”

Even as the demand continues for military missions in Iraq and Syria, the cuts are affecting military readiness for these operations, he said.

“Across all the services — the Marine Corps the same — the personnel cuts have been deep. And if they go much deeper, they will become a matter of grave worry to us all.”

Sequestration spending ceilings are scheduled to return in full force on Oct. 1 for both the Pentagon and non-defense domestic programs.

Democrats and the White House are pressuring the GOP-controlled Congress to negotiate a new agreement this fall that relieves those caps.

AIRMAN WHO FOILED PARIS TRAIN ATTACK TO RECEIVE PURPLE HEART: Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone will be awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered while stopping an attack on a Paris-bound train, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced Monday.

Stone, 23, will receive the award, as well as the Airman’s Medal, during a ceremony Thursday at the Pentagon.

Stone, two friends and a British businessman subdued a heavily armed gunman, 25-year-old Moroccan citizen Ayoub el-Khazzani, who opened fire on the train last month.

In addition to Stone’s awards, Army National Guard Spc. Alek Skarlatos, 22, will receive the Soldier’s Medal, and college student Anthony Sadler, 23, will receive a civilian award, the Defense secretary’s medal for valor.

Stone, Skarlatos, Sadler and British businessman Chris Norman were awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest award.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

— Taliban insurgents attack prison, free 355 inmates

— Breastfeeding soldiers photo goes viral

— Iranian leader wishes Jewish people a happy new year

— McCain blames Obama for Russia’s buildup in Syria

— Al Qaeda head calls for lone wolf attacks on US

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@digital-stage.thehill.com, and Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@digital-stage.thehill.com