The tough vote has already been taken. Every Democrat that was on the fence about the Iran nuclear deal decided in favor, and Congress cannot stop it. But that's not going to keep Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from
making them vote again.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has scheduled another vote Tuesday to end debate, but that motion is likely to be blocked by Senate Democrats as well. It's unclear if this is the last vote the Republican-led Senate will take on the Iran nuclear deal.
Though the measure is unlikely to advance, Republicans are staging the Senate vote to make political points against Democrats and in future Senate races. They point to polls showing Americans have reservations about the deal.
Republicans are also working to craft new sanctions legislation to maintain a hardline stance against Iran. Looking ahead to next year's elections, Republican campaign committees also have targeted Democrats who backed the deal and some organizations against the deal already have threatened to withdraw political contributions from members of Congress who backed it.
This is McConnell thinking he can embarrass and bully Democrats on national security, again. Earlier this year, he had a
massive fail on the Patriot Act, using a similar strategy of trying to force the Senate to bend to his will. And here we go again. This won't force any Democrat to change his or her position and it's pretty unlikely to make a difference in 2016—Americans aren't known for voting based on foreign policy.
Meanwhile, there are just a few more legislative working days left before the end of the month and the end of the fiscal year. When the government runs out of money. When everything could shut down. Maybe McConnell thinks that if he waits until the very last minute before funding expires—like he tried to do with the Patriot Act—he can force the rest of Congress to bend to his will. Seems like Mitch McConnell is a very slow learner.