On May 7, 2015, with a final vote of 98-1, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would establish congressional review for any nuclear deal with Iran as part of the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. We reported on the P5+1 Iran nuclear agreement framework in our April 2nd blog post. This legislation, if passed, would establish a 30-day period in which Congress could by resolution either approve or reject any final nuclear deal reached with Iran. During the 30-day period, President Obama would generally have the authority to temporarily waive certain US sanctions targeting Iran that are imposed by the Executive Branch (e.g., Executive Orders). Sanctions passed by congressional statute, however, would continue to remain in effect during the 30-day period and could not be waived by the President. If Congress rejects the deal, the resolution of rejection would presumably be subject to veto by President Obama, in which case it would require a veto-proof majority of two-thirds of both houses of Congress to be passed. If a rejection resolution is not passed, then the deal would go forward. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on and approve the bill next week. While President Obama had previously threatened to veto the bill, he has since dropped that threat in light of recent reports that Democrats in Congress support the deal in sufficient numbers to sustain a presidential veto of any resolution of rejection.
