In Symbolic Vote, House Rejects Iran Deal Resolution

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday rejected the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers that has been the subject of heated debate in Congress for weeks.

The resolution to approve the deal failed 162-269, although the vote was largely symbolic and will have no impact on implementation of the groundbreaking nuclear accord. On Thursday, the Senate rejected a resolution of disapproval of the deal, helping it clear a major hurdle that essentially ensures its enactment.

Every Republican in the House voted against the bill on Friday, joined by 25 Democrats. The Hill reports:

While the failure of the resolution will not prevent the nuclear pact from taking effect, the vote serves as a rebuke of Obama, who has staked his foreign policy legacy on defusing the Iranian threat through diplomacy.

[….] Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has scheduled another vote on the Iran deal disapproval resolution when the chamber returns next week. The outcome, however, is unlikely to change, with 42 Democrats preventing a resolution from passing.

While the full roll call has yet to be released, the 25 Democrats who voted against the deal are Reps. Brad Ashford (Neb.), Brendan Boyle (Pa.), Tony Cardenas (Calif.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Eliot Engel (N.Y.), Lois Frankel (Fla.), Gwen Graham (Fla.), Gene Green (Texas), Alcee Hastings (Fla.), Steve Israel (N.Y.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Dan Lipinski (Ill.), Nita Lowey (N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), Grace Meng (N.Y.), Grace Napolitano (Calif.), Donald Norcross (N.J.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Kathleen Rice (N.Y.), David Scott (Ga.), Brad Sherman (Calif.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Albio Sires (N.J.), Juan Vargas (Calif.) and Filemon Vela (Texas).

In response to the vote, the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) Action executive director Jamal Abdi applauded “each lawmaker in the House who voted in support of the nuclear agreement with Iran and voted against related measures to undermine or block the deal’s implementation.”

“In the end, opponents of the agreement lost because their arguments were simply not credible,” Abdi said. “For those of us who don’t want another war and oppose the spread of nuclear weapons, we can only be grateful that the negotiations with Iran were led by American diplomats rather than its politicians.”