In a direct challenge to the White House, a Senate committee is to vote on a bill that would give Congress a chance to weigh in on any final nuclear agreement that can be reached with Iran.
Despite a veto threat from President Barack Obama, there is strong bipartisan support for Congress to have a say in any deal that the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are able to negotiate to keep Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for easing sanctions.
The White House doesn't want Congress to take any action that could upset the delicate negotiations that are supposed to wrap up with a final agreement by the end of June.
Republican Sen Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said a vote is likely today, possibly on a new version that was still being crafted last night.
The committee vote is a step toward a full Senate vote. The bill would also have to be approved by the House.
A new version would be an attempt to make the bill more palatable to lawmakers who have sought changes, such as shortening from 60 days to 30 days the length of time that Congress would have to review any final deal that's reached.
Corker, who introduced the bill with Democratic Sen Bob Menendez, was cautiously optimistic that the new version could win a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which could make it veto-proof.
"We are moving in a very positive direction, and we've worked through some issues that I think give me a lot of hope that that could well be the case," he said.
As the bill is currently written, Obama could unilaterally lift or ease any sanctions that were imposed on Iran through presidential executive means.
But the bill would prohibit him for 60 days from suspending, waiving or otherwise easing any sanctions that Congress levied on Iran. During that 60-day period, Congress could hold hearings and approve, disapprove or take no action on any final nuclear agreement with Iran.
If Congress passed a joint resolution approving a final deal, or took no action, Obama could move ahead to ease sanctions levied by Congress. But if Congress passed a joint resolution disapproving it, Obama would be blocked from providing Iran with any relief from congressional sanctions.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who played a leading role in getting a framework agreement with Iran this past month, personally pleaded with House Republicans and Democrats on Monday to give the Obama administration more time and room to negotiate a final deal.
Kerry met in a closed-door session with members of the House and was to meet with senators today before the committee debates the bill.
