House Iran vote expected on 9/11 anniversary

The House is expected to vote on a resolution disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal on Friday, coinciding with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Debate on Iran is slated to consume the entire week in the House. The plan is for the House to debate the international accord to curtail Iran’s nuclear program for 11 hours over the course of three days, according to House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas). 

{mosads}The timing for the Iran vote – which many lawmakers have said is the most consequential international relations vote they’ve had to take in years – to fall on the fourteenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks is partly coincidental. But it may also serve as a way for Republicans uniformly opposed to the nuclear deal to underscore the potential terror threat from Iran and the country’s nuclear arsenal.

A GOP leadership aide cautioned that a Friday vote hadn’t been finalized, but appeared to be the most likely outcome.

Four committees of jurisdiction over the Iran deal – Financial Services, Ways and Means, Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary – will each be allotted two hours of floor debate, while the House Foreign Affairs Committee will open and close debate with three total hours.

It’s unclear when the Senate will vote on its version of a resolution disapproving of the Iran accord. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) remain at odds over whether the measure should be subject to a 60-vote threshold. A total of 41 Senate Democrats have announced support for the deal, meaning that they could mount a filibuster and block the disapproval resolution from passing.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) offered a “privileged” resolution to delay the House vote on the Iran nuclear deal until the Obama administration provides Congress with the text of the so-called “side deals” between Iran and international nuclear inspectors.

Under House rules, Roskam’s resolution must receive legislative action by Thursday. But it’s unclear whether it can move forward in the House and faces even longer odds to clear the Senate.