Trump's Iran deal sparks GOP demands for vote as Congress remains in the dark
President Donald Trump has the beginnings of an agreement to end the war in Iran, but Congress hasn’t seen it, and Republicans want details before lending their support.
Trump declared that the deal had already been signed by all parties, but senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is a member of the Gang of Eight who receives top-level intelligence briefings from the administration, are still in the dark about what exactly it entails.
"I don't think even the people who follow this stuff closely up here know much about it," Thune said.
As Congress awaits information on the long-awaited deal, Vice President JD Vance went on a media blitz for much of Monday to provide rough sketches of what’s inside. When asked if Vance should brief senators on the matter, Thune said, "Somebody will need to."
"I don't know whether it's the vice president, but for sure, our members are gonna have a lot of questions about it," Thune said.
There’s also an issue of trust with Iran and whether it will follow through with whatever has been agreed to.
"History shows that the religious zealots running Iran lie like fish swim," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.
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Vance’s media tour did outline a rough timeline of about 60 days from the initial signing of the deal to allow for further negotiations on a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program.
But there are critics, including former President Barack Obama, who told "Good Morning America" that he was "doubtful" Trump’s deal would be different from his own agreement with Iran in 2015.
Vance shot back on CBS News that Obama’s deal "took an Iranian nuclear program that it accelerated, and it basically bribed the Iranians to stop that program." However, Vance confirmed that there would be a $300 billion reconstruction fund available to Iran if it stayed in line with the guardrails of a forthcoming agreement.
Trump and Vance have both said that details of the deal would emerge in the coming days, likely during an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland. But that’s not good enough for some.
"We’ve been told dozens of times that this war is over, and dozens of times we’ve been disappointed," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "There have been divergent statements from a variety of people in the administration. In these high-stakes negotiations, the devil is in the details, but Trump still hasn’t even revealed the text of his ‘understanding’ with Iran."
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When asked why the administration had not revealed the contents of the deal to lawmakers, a White House official said, "We will continue our long history of extraordinary levels of transparency with the Hill, as we maintained throughout the course of this conflict."
While Republicans weren’t sure of the specifics of the deal, many said that they wanted a vote on a final product to ensure that it was permanent and wouldn’t end up like former President Barack Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, which Trump ripped up during his first term.
"Once we have a final agreement, we need to check it out and pass it," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. "The only way it's lasting — executive agreements last through the executive — you want a long-term agreement. It's gotta be law."
Lankford leaned into the Trump factor in his understanding of the deal and contended, "President Trump … is pretty unconventional the way he does this kind of stuff."
"I don't foresee him going to go make a bad deal in things. Is it gonna be everything I want? Probably not. Or Iran would never, ever sign it," he said. "But I don't see him giving away the farm on this."
Meanwhile, while much of Congress is in the dark, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, may have some insight into the deal.
When asked if he had been read into the administration’s agreement with Iran, Risch said, "I do. I have."
"I don't have any comment on it at this point. It’s still a work in progress," Risch said. "We'll get to that here pretty quick."