Republicans Face Uphill Fight in Blocking an Iran Deal

Republicans know they'll face an uphill fight in an effort to kill the upcoming nuclear containment deal with Iran, even with a law passed in May that allows Congress to weigh in on the agreement, because President Barack Obama will likely be able to get the 34 votes he needs in the Senate to sustain a veto.

"Clearly, it's going to be challenging," New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte told Politico.

And Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the only senator to vote against the Iran review bill, said on Tuesday that he opposed the measure because it gives the "illusion of oversight without oversight."

That is, Cotton said, the review law leaves it up to Congress to gather enough votes to prevent a veto, rather than requiring the administration to attract enough votes to approve the agreement, as would be normally done with a treaty.

"It didn’t give Congress much power that’s beyond our inherent authority," Cotton said of the May law. "If that act was not law, we could still pass legislation with a veto-proof majority to block the deal from moving forward."

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