Congress Must Review New Iranian Nuclear Deal, Lawmakers Tell State Dept.
Two House Republicans again reminded the State Department that it must submit to Congress any new deal reached with Iran over its nuclear commitments, saying they are concerned the Biden administration may be trying to avoid this requirement (see 2106150029). House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said they fear the administration is “working through Russian intermediaries to finalize an Iran nuclear deal without submitting it for Congressional consideration.”
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“We are alarmed that the Biden Administration may be preparing to evade the clear requirements of the law by pretending that a new deal is somehow a ‘continuation of’ or ‘return to’ the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was submitted to Congress back in 2015,” the lawmakers said in a March 4 letter to the State Department. “That would be an absurd and lawless claim.”
The State Department is "deeply committed to continued close engagement with Congress in a bipartisan manner as Iran policy continues to develop," a spokesperson said March 7. "The administration will carefully consider the facts and circumstances of any U.S. return to the JCPOA to determine the legal implications."