Iran's Bushehr nuclear power reactor.
Sam Stein, Jennifer Bendery and Jessica Schulberg
report:
Under the deal, the president would still be required to submit any final agreement before Congress and Congress would continue to have a say over whether he can lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program. But the new deal, hammered out between Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would reduce the time frame the Senate has to consider the lifting of sanctions—from 60 days to 52 at most—and would keep demands on Iran limited primarily to its nuclear program and not, for example, against its sponsorship of terrorism.
"The president would be willing to sign the proposed compromise that is working its way through the committee today," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
The Foreign Relations Committee is currently discussing the changes proposed in the bill in a so-called manager's amendment put together by chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) and ranking member Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the past few days.
Several Democrats on the 19-member committee have already said they will support it and the changes that have been made likely will boost those numbers. One of the bill's chief foes, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), said this afternoon at the committee that the changes have persuaded her to vote for it because she is convinced passage won't upend the ongoing negotiations with Iran.
Corker has been pushing for passage of a veto-proof bill, but that now appears to be unnecessary. If the panel approves the bill, it is likely to be voted on in the full Senate sometime next week.
1:09 PM PT: The Foreign Relations Council voted 19-0 in favor of the amended bill on reviewing the Iran deal. Sen. John Barrasso introduced an amendment to the bill to reinsert a requirement that the president certify that Iran has not directly engaged in terrorism that has killed Americans. It failed 13-6.