House votes to reject Iran nuclear deal, but action has little impact
WASHINGTON — The House voted Friday to reject the Iran nuclear agreement, but the action will have little real impact now that Senate Democrats have effectively safeguarded the deal.
House members voted 269-162 against approving the agreement. All but one Republican voted against approval, as did 25 Democrats. The 162 members who voted for approval of the deal were all Democrats. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted "present."
The House also voted 247-186 to prevent President Obama from lifting economic sanctions against Iran.
However, both bills are expected to die in the House since they are not slated to be taken up by the Senate.
In a big victory for Obama, Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a resolution to reject the Iran nuclear agreement. Senators voted 58-42 to bring a resolution of disapproval to the floor — two votes short of the 60 needed to advance the resolution.
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Senate Democrats block GOP effort to derail Iran nuke deal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plans to hold the vote again Tuesday. But Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., predicted the outcome will not change. The agreement will take effect on Sept. 17 unless both chambers of Congress vote to reject it.
Obama said Friday that he is gratified by the support he received from Democratic lawmakers in the House.
"Now, we must turn to the critical work of implementing and verifying this deal so that Iran cannot pursue a nuclear weapon," the president said in a statement. "In doing so, we’ll write the latest chapter of American leadership in the pursuit of a safer, more hopeful world."
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Republicans will keep trying to stop the deal from being implemented. The House on Thursday passed a resolution saying that Obama had not complied with a requirement to provide Congress with all documents related to the Iran agreement. Boehner said Republicans may use that argument to file a lawsuit to try to halt the agreement.
"Never in our history has something with so many consequences for our national security been rammed through with such little support," Boehner said on the House floor Friday. "Our fight to stop this bad deal is frankly just beginning. We will not let the American people down."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the agreement "strengthens our security."
The agreement — reached among Iran, the U.S., and five other nations — would lift economic sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran's agreement not to develop nuclear weapons for at least a decade and to dismantle some components of its nuclear program.
"As this agreement moves forward, we will be making progress for the cause of peachttp://
House votes to reject Iran nuclear deal, but action has little impact in the world," Pelosi said.