The Obama administration once against reiterated how it will rigorously pursue it’s political agenda with complete disregard to Congressional power by saying it would veto any bill that would force him to submit an Iran nuke bill to Congress for approval before signing it.
President Obama on Saturday threatened to veto a bipartisan bill that would allow Congress to weigh in on any nuclear deal the administration reached with Iran.
“The President has been clear that now is not the time for Congress to pass additional legislation on Iran,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement to The Hill.
“If this bill is sent to the President, he will veto it. We are in the final weeks of an international negotiation. We should give our negotiators the best chance of success, rather than complicating their efforts,” she added.
The threat comes after a handful of lawmakers introduced a measure requiring Obama to submit text of an agreement with Iran to Congress. It would also prohibit the White House from lifting Iranian sanctions for two months while Congress debated the deal.
Whether Obama needs Congressional approval for such a treaty is debatable. As Jim Geraghty points out, the Constitution seems pretty clear that Congress needs to weigh in on treaties, but on the other hand the kind of treaty being made may traditionally within the sphere of the power of the Executive, as explained here.
Whatever the case is, if Americans rose up and demanded lawmakers face the Iranian threat, Congress could reach the two-thirds vote threshold to overturn Obama’s veto. But we’re too busy being obsessed with Bruce Jenner’s sex change.