Senate Democrats Force McConnell To Cancel Vote On Iran Bill

Senate Democrats forced Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to back off of a plan to turn a bill related to Iran into a partisan attack on President Obama.

After McConnell tried to use Netanyahu’s speech to doublecross Democrats who supported a bill that would call for the Senate to review any agreement made by President Obama with Iran regarding their nuclear program, nine Senate Democrats withdrew their support for the legislation.

The Democrats told McConnell:
On a day defined by serious discourse about Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, at a moment when legislators are contemplating the most serious national security issue of our time, we are disappointed that you have proceeded outside of regular order which suggests that the goal of this maneuver is to score partisan political points, rather than pursue a substantive strategy to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The deadline for a political framework agreement with Iran is March 24, and a final agreement is not expected to be reached until the end of June. There is no immediate or urgent need to circumvent the Committee process and we are disappointed that you’ve pursued this partisan course of action.

We remain committed to working on this bill in a bipartisan manner. As such, and as a result of your actions, we will only vote for this bill after it has gone through the regular mark-up process in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and after the March 24th deadline for the political framework agreement.

McConnell’s office announced that they were canceling their planned vote “It is clear that Senate Democrats will filibuster their own bill — a bill they rushed to introduce before the White House cut a deal with Iran. So, instead, the Senate will turn next to the anti-human-trafficking legislation while Democrats decide whether or not they believe they and Congress as a whole should be able to review and vote on any deal the President cuts with the leaders of Iran.”

Senate Democrats put a quick end to McConnell’s scheme to divide the president and his party. This is the second time less than two weeks that McConnell has been forced to cave on his plans. McConnell promised an aggressive agenda that would bend the president to his will, but what has happened is that Democrats has asserted firm control over the Senate’s agenda.

McConnell tried to pull a fast one on the Democrats who supported the bill, so the bipartisan support quickly vanished for the legislation. McConnell can do nothing without Democratic support. The Majority Leader is learning fast that there is a heavy price to be paid for his years of obstruction.