The new Republican-controlled Congress wants to poison the nuclear talks with Iran, Jim W. Dean says.[/caption]Sen. Chuck Schumer signed onto a sanctions bill Monday, but it may be harder to round up other Democrats.
The push to impose new economic sanctions on Iran is facing an increasingly uphill battle toward a veto-proof majority.
Sen. Mark Kirk picked up a prominent supporter Monday � No. 3 Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer � for a bill that would ratchet up sanctions if diplomatic talks on curbing Iran�s nuclear program fall through.
But rounding up other Democrats may be harder and Schumer�s support is contingent, sources said, on other Democrats coming on board with him, like Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Schumer said his party is still discussing the best timing for a vote on an Iran bill, after President Barack Obama forcefully warned last week that he will veto any sanctions legislation that lands on his desk during the nuclear talks.
�I intend to co-sponsor it,� the New York Democrat said Monday night. �But we�re having a meeting among the Democrats and figuring out the best strategy.�
Kirk (R-Ill.) said last week that he intended to release a bipartisan list of co-sponsors for his legislation as early as Monday night. But on Monday evening, Democrats were still being cagey about whether they will publicly defy the president.
�We�re at the beginning of the process,� said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a co-sponsor of sanctions legislation last year. �I�ve looked at it. We�ll keep looking at it.�
Asked if his name will be on the bill�s co-sponsor list this time, Casey replied, �We don�t know yet.�
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), another previous backer of sanctions, is not expected to sign onto Kirk�s bill, according to a source familiar with the measure. Menendez also remains a wild card. He�told�New Jersey�s Star-Ledger he might put off supporting the legislation, which in 2013 was known informally around the Hill as �Kirk-Menendez.�
The Senate Banking Committee is set to approve Kirk�s bill Thursday. But Kirk has been looking for seven Democrats to join him and six Republicans in defiance of the president�s Iran negotiations, hoping to send a bipartisan message to Obama rather than a party-line vote that has no chance of overcoming a veto.
On the day Kirk had hoped to introduce his sanctions bill, 11 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus introduced a resolution that said they are prepared to vote on more sanctions, but only if talks fall apart.
�For those who agree that the sanctions bill in the Banking Committee is detrimental, this resolution provides an option in support of diplomacy,� said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who wrote the measure with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
For Kirk, finding Republican supporters hasn�t been a problem � even among those who support a separate approach proposed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that would require Congress to approve or reject any deal with Iran.
�I�m definitely on it,� Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of Kirk�s bill.
Graham is also working closely with Corker. Senate Republicans leader intend to give both measures a vote on the Senate floor in the near future, perhaps as early as February.
By Politico
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