The White House expressed confidence Monday that the House could sustain a presidential veto of a congressional resolution of disapproval against the Iran nuclear deal.
“We do feel confident that, if faced with the choice of sustaining the president’s veto of a resolution of disapproval, that we’ve got enough support in the House of Representatives to sustain that veto,” press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
That is one of the strongest statements yet from the White House that it believes it could defeat an effort by Republicans in Congress to kill the agreement.
{mosads}Earnest’s comments came on the same day Republicans announced a majority of House lawmakers signed onto a bill that condemns the nuclear accord, a sign a majority would vote for a formal resolution against the deal.
But opponents of the agreement would need two-thirds of both chambers to override President Obama’s veto of a resolution against the deal.
Justifying the White House’s confidence, Earnest pointed to a letter signed by 150 House Democrats in May, before the pact was finalized, voicing support for the negotiations.
He also said the “momentum” is on their side in the fight over the deal in Congress.
But the administration will continue to lobby Democrats to back the deal, he said.
“We don’t take those votes for granted,” Earnest said.