by Ben Whedon
President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed he would send the Iran deal to Congress as lawmakers increasingly pressed for a copy of the text.
The text of the deal has not been published and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as of Tuesday morning, confirmed that lawmakers were working to obtain a copy for their own review.
Trump, for his part, quipped that he would send the document to Congress and urge Democrats against approving it, contending they would do the opposite of anything he asked, according to The Hill.
“But yeah, I never thought about sending, never even thought about it, but I will. I will send it to Congress. I like the idea,” he told reporters.
Formal treaties require the approval of two-thirds of both chambers and it remains unclear whether enough lawmakers would back the deal in its current form, especially as Congress hasn’t yet viewed the full terms.
Trump has stated that the Iran deal permits free transit through the Strait of Hormuz and a pledge that Iran will not obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump’s decision to send a copy of the Iran deal to Congress comes a day after Republican senators said they want to hold a vote on it.
According to Politico, Sen. James Lankford said the deal “can’t be an executive agreement” if the deal is to last. “We’ve got to have a vote of Congress to be able to solidify [it] long term,” he said, the outlet reported.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expected the Senate to vote on the agreement, Politico reported.
“I just don’t know enough about it yet, and I don’t think even the people who follow this stuff closely up here know that much about it,” he said, according to the outlet.
Sen. Mike Rounds said the Trump administration should provide the Iran Deal to the House and Senate “if they want it to be something other than a political agreement, like the JCPOA was,” the outlet said.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
From what I have heard thus far, Trump has caved in order to declare the war done. I am disgusted with his willingness to compromise after promises that he made when this conflict was launched. Boooo!