White House rallies Democrats around Iran nuke deal

The nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is “bad” and paves the way for Tehran to establish nuclear enterprises, House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday.

Boehner said he disagreed with President Barack Obama’s suggestion that the only alternative to a deal was war, and added that sanctions were “bringing Iran to its knees” before negotiations began.

“We’re going to continue to review this, but we’re going to fight a bad deal that’s wrong for our national security and wrong for our country,” he said.

Asked to speculate about the chances the Republican-led Congress has to block the deal, Boehner said it was clear to him that the majority of the House and the Senate, “at the minimum”, were opposed to the deal.

Since announcing the deal Tuesday, Obama and his team have tried to win support from congressional Democrats.

Obama said he welcomed a “robust” debate about the agreement but warned that he would veto any attempt by Congress to derail the accord.

Vice President Joe Biden met Thursday with Senate Democrats in an effort to shore up support, a day after he met with Democrats in the House where he assured them that nothing in the pact would preclude the use of force if Tehran was found in violation.

At least one party member seemed to be sold on Biden’s pitch. Following the meeting, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told reporters that he was hopeful the deal was going to draw significant support from the caucus.

“I haven’t seen anything in anything I’ve read so far that would mean I would oppose it,” Murphy said.

Congress has 60 days to review the deal.

Obama needs the support of 34 of the 100 senators to maintain his veto and protect the deal.

Congress requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses to override a presidential veto.