Republican Squabble in Senate Could Doom Iran Bill
A dispute among Republican senators over changes to an Iran nuclear review bill on Thursday threatened the measure’s chances of being passed by the U.S. Congress, leaving Senate leaders scrambling for a way to advance the legislation.
Two Republican senators, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio, used an unorthodox procedural move to try to force the Senate to vote on their amendments to a bill authored by another Republican senator, Bob Corker, that would give Congress the right to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran.
Rubio, a 2016 presidential hopeful, and Cotton, a leading congressional critic of President Barack Obama’s Iran policy, want to toughen the bill with amendments including adding a requirement that Iran recognize Israel’s right to exist as part of any nuclear deal.
Senate aides said the two made their move on Thursday just as Republicans and Democrats were finalizing an agreement on how to handle at least 66 amendments proposed by Republicans to the Iran Nuclear Review Act.
“I have a sense that the context of this has just changed,” Corker said. “I regret that.”
The Senate has been engaged in intense debate over the legislation, a compromise version of the bill reached in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week in an effort to avoid a presidential veto.
The White House had said some of the stronger provisions of the original measure would have threatened delicate international talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program. The negotiators have given themselves until the end of June to reach a final agreement, which members of Congress want to review.
Corker and Ben Cardin, the committee’s Republican chairman and top Democrat, have been arguing against so-called poison pill amendments. They say such amendments would alienate many Democrats who now support the measure and prompt a veto.
Senators voted down two such controversial amendments earlier this week. [ID:L1N0XQ3WW}
There was some optimism about the bill’s long-term prospects, however. Senate aides said they expected the Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, would take steps as early as Monday to stop debate on the bill and allow a vote on a “clean” version, without amendments.
But a spokesman said late on Thursday that McConnell had not yet said whether he would do so, and that Senate leaders were still trying to find a way to have votes on amendments.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.