• Skip to Navigation
• Skip to Main content
• Skip to Right rail

Recommended Games

• 
• 
• 

More games »

Obama can do Iran nuclear deal even if Congress disapproves

By DEB RIECHMANN 6 hours ago

• 
• 
• 
• 

.

View gallery

• 
  .
• 
  .
• 
  .
• 
  .

WASHINGTON (AP) — The September vote on the Iran nuclear deal is billed as a titanic standoff between President Barack Obama and Congress. Yet even if lawmakers reject the agreement, it's not game-over for the White House.

Related Stories

1. Obama Could Act On Iran Deal Without Congressional Approval Huffington Post
2. Lawmaker: Majority in US House oppose Iran nuclear deal AFP
3. News Guide: A look at the Iran nuclear deal and Congress Associated Press
4. Obama to Press His Case on Iran Nuclear Deal The Wall Street Journal
5. Blows for Obama as key lawmakers come out against Iran deal Reuters

A congressional vote of disapproval would not prevent Obama from acting on his own to start putting the accord in place. While he probably would take some heavy criticism, this course would let him add the foreign policy breakthrough to his second-term list of accomplishments.
Obama doesn't need a congressional OK to give Iran most of the billions of dollars in relief from economic sanctions that it would get under the agreement, as long as Tehran honors its commitments to curb its nuclear program — at least for now.
"A resolution to disapprove the Iran agreement may have substantial political reverberations, but limited practical impact," says Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It would not override President Obama's authority to enter into the agreement."
Lawmakers on their summer break are deciding how to vote. A look at the current state of play:
___