(JTA) — Speaker of the House John Boehner said Congress will do whatever it can to stop the agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.
Signed last week between Iran and six world powers, the agreement curbs Iran’s nuclear capabilities and subjects it to inspection in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. Republicans have panned the deal, and Boehner said it threatens the United States’ national security.
“Members of Congress will ask much tougher questions this afternoon when we meet with the president’s team, and because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people, we’re going to do everything possible to stop it,” Boehner said, according to Haaretz.
To block the deal, a majority of Congress will have to vote to reject it, and then — once President Obama vetoes that rejection, as he has promised to do — Congress will have to garner a two-thirds majority to overcome the veto. To get to two-thirds, Boehner’s Republican caucus — in addition to the Senate Republican majority— would have to convince a number of Democrats to vote against the deal.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is encouraging her Democratic caucus to support the deal.
“As you may be aware, I believe that this agreement is a major accomplishment,” she said in a letter released by her office Tuesday, according to Reuters. “I am pleased that the response thus far from House Democrats has been so positive.”
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