House GOP shakes up Iran strategy

Julian Hattem and Cristina Marcos

Americans not behind Iran deal.  House Republicans are changing course on a vote to oppose the Iranian nuclear deal after facing intense criticism from some of the conference’s conservative lawmakers.

Instead of a single vote to disapprove of the deal, the House will now hold three separate votes on the agreement.

One would be a resolution to approve of the deal — which is sure to fail and, in the process, force many Democrats to break from the White House.

The second would be to express a sense of the House that the Obama administration has not met the requirements of legislation guaranteeing congressional oversight of the deal by failing to give lawmakers text of the “secret side deals.” The bilateral deals between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency are at the center of the House’s uprising over the Iran pact, and concern the details of inspections at some Iranian sites.

Finally, the House would vote to prevent the U.S. from lifting sanctions on Iran as part of complying with the nuclear deal.

The House is still expected to finish votes regarding Iran on Friday, which coincides with the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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