Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee found middle ground on a bipartisan bill that would provide Congress an opportunity to vote on the expected international nuclear deal with Iran.
The panel's chairman, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, said on Tuesday that a compromise was reached that would shorten the congressional review time from 60 days to 52 days. Congress would have 30 days to review the Iranian nuclear deal and vote to approve or reject it, and President Barack Obama would have 12 days to decide whether to veto congressional action. Congress would then have 10 days to override a veto, reported The Associated Press.
If Obama doesn't share information regarding the deal until after July 9, the review period would revert back to 60 days.
Obama would not be able to remove congressionally imposed sanctions on Iran until the 52-day review process is finished, according to Corker.
The agreement still has to go up for vote this afternoon, but being that leaders from both parties have expressed support, it's likely to pass with "overwhelming, veto-proof support," as one Democratic aide told The New York Times.
The White House has insisted that Obama will veto the legislation. If he does, that overwhelming congressional support could easily result in Obama receiving his first veto override. Lawmakers would need support from 67 of the 100 Senate members to override a presidential veto.
The compromise would also revise some of the terrorism language found in the bill, no longer requiring that Obama certify that Iran has not supported any act of terrorism against the U.S. or its citizens around the world, the Times reported.
The president would instead be required to periodically send Congress reports on Iranian activities involving ballistic missiles and terrorism.
