Republicans have taken meddling in foreign policy to a new level - something unthinkable considering the back door invite provided to Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.bloombergview.com/...
A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran's leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they sign with President Barack Obama's administration won’t last after Obama leaves office.
Organized by freshman Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber's entire party leadership as well as potential 2016 presidential contenders Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the letter is meant not just to discourage the Iranian regime from signing a deal but also to pressure the White House into giving Congress some authority over the process.
“It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system … Anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement,” the senators wrote. “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”
Full text of the letter is available here, with signatures attached:
http://go.bloomberg.com/...
This move, by US Senators to alter the direction of an accord for a nuclear agreement marks an open rebuke of the administration policy, and an incredible act of bravado in predicting a 2016 presidential election more than a year in advance.
Many inside the Republican caucus, however, hope that by pointing out the long-term fragility of a deal with no congressional approval -- something Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also noted -- the Iranian regime might be convinced to think twice. "Iran's ayatollahs need to know before agreeing to any nuclear deal that … any unilateral executive agreement is one they accept at their own peril,” Cotton told me.
Republicans have made no secret that the idea of throwing a wrench into the works will be their effort at foreign policy, which has questionable value to them in elections.
7:23 AM PT: Tom Cotton posts Republican Senators who signed
These are the Republicans who did NOT sign the letter:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Dan Coats (R-IN)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
http://www.cotton.senate.gov/...
Update
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) attacked the Republican letter as a "juvenile political attack" aimed at "undermining our commander in chief." Republicans, he said, "cannot accept the fact that this good man, Barack Obama, this man with the unusual name, was elected twice by overwhelming margins by the people of this country."
In Senate floor remarks, he said Democrats never contemplated sending a letter to Iraq's leaders highlighting their disagreements with President George W. Bush. "So I say to my Republican colleagues: Do you so dislike President Obama you would take this extroardinary step? Obviously so," he said. "Why was it taken? I really don't understand other than the dislike of the president."