McConnell Faces Down Obama As START Moves To Vote This Week

As the Senate geared up for a showdown over the new Start treaty Monday, opposition grew as leading Republicans, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, raised serious questions about loopholes involving verification and other facets of the proposed nuclear pact between Russia and the United States.

Among the major developments:

    * Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Sunday that he will oppose the treaty, saying that Democrats are trying to “jam” it through without serious examination.

    * The Senate on Sunday blocked a Republican-sponsored amendment that would have changed the preamble to include language on tactical weapons and the "inter-relationship between non-strategic and strategic offensive arms.”

    * Sen. Lindsey Graham, another potential vote for the treaty, also voiced his opposition, saying he’d write to the Russians to clarify matters he believes the Obama administration has muddled.

    * A letter written by President Obama to McConnell to sway Republican holdouts seemed to have little effect. Obama crafted the letter after an amendment sponsored by Sen. John McCain was also voted down.

The START nuclear-arms treaty will be debated Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, still unable to assure the president he has the votes needed for passage, did not say when a final vote would be scheduled.

The treaty calls for the U.S. and Russia to each cut their number of deployed nuclear weapons to 1,550 within seven years. It must be approved by the Senate and the Federation Council of Russia. Any changes to the treaty now would effectively kill it for the session and send it back to the negotiation table.

McConnell’s opposition now makes ratification a lot harder for President Obama, who has staked much of his foreign policy reputation on getting START passed. The treaty needs to be ratified by two-thirds of the 100-member Senate. The Democrats, though in control of the Senate, will need the support of some Republicans.

McConnell’s statements were a blunt response to a letter crafted by President Obama after the Senate Saturday struck down an amendment by McCain, R-Ariz., that would have amended the treaty's non-binding preamble by dividing the core mission of the treaty – verifying the reduction of nuclear stockpiles from the more controversial issue of U.S.-backed missile defense systems.

“I’ve decided that I cannot support the treaty. I think the verification provisions are inadequate and I do worry about the missile defense implications of it,” McConnell told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

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