As I understand it: House GOP leadership had scheduled a procedural vote today to begin debate on the Iran deal. The whackjob fringe scuttled the vote.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are demanding that the Obama administration send side deals between Iran and international nuclear inspectors to Congress as part of the Iran deal now under consideration. Opponents of the deal have argued that the clock on congressional consideration of the deal has not even begun until these side deals are submitted.
Under legislation approved earlier this year, Congress has 60 days to review the deal before the White House can begin lifting sanctions on Tehran, as required under the nuclear deal.
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) has offered a resolution that would prevent a vote on the Iran deal until all of the documents of the international agreement — including the deals between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are provided to Congress for review.
The 60 days are up on September 17. Also, there are enough Democrats committed to supporting the deal (42) that they could stop the delaying measure from being voted on in the Senate.
Cruz explained:
“Those side deals have not been submitted to Congress. Under the terms of Corker-Cardin, the review period has not started, and does not start until the entire deal is submitted to Congress and the president cannot lift these sanctions until the review period expires.”
I’m not sure if they think they ought to get a say in whatever deals Iran makes with the IAEA, or what. It’s pretty certain that after September 17, the President’s hands are untied and the deal will be made.
On the plus side, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-WTF?) has vowed to quit Congress if the Iran deal goes through. Don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out, Louie.