Disapproving the disapproval and kabuki hissy fits to come
by digby
So the Dems successfully filibustered the Senate’s formal disapproval of the Iran deal which means the deal is going through and the president will not have to veto it. (I know it’s stupidly convoluted but that’s how the thing was set up.) Anyway, huzzah.
But that doesn’t mean the House isn’t going to stage a kabuki hissy fit so their wingnuts can make fiery speeches into the void:
Late Wednesday, Boehner managed to quell a budding revolt among the House Republicans by agreeing to table a disapproval resolution vote in favor of a vote on an approval resolution. The switch was made to let the deal’s many critics in the House state, in no uncertain terms, that they believe Obama didn’t hold up his end of the bargain and, Boehner said, hold “every member accountable for their vote.”
A group of House Republicans successfully pressed leaders to change plans after arguing that the 60-day window for Congress to consider the Iran deal never started, because Obama never gave lawmakers the text of two confidential side agreements between Iran and the the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will help enforce the agreement.
Administration officials have argued they can’t hand over those side deals, because they never had them. But House Republicans insist that stance puts the administration in breach of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act enacted earlier this year, which obligated Obama to hand over all materials pertaining to the deal with no exceptions for those the United States isn’t a party to or doesn’t have in its possession.
Republicans across Congress have taken up the complaint that without the side agreements, they can’t be expected to respect the Sept. 17 deadline for Congress to consider the deal. But in the Senate, some Republican leaders aren’t supporting the House’s new approach.
“The best way to express concerns about the documents, but also concerns about the deal itself, is to vote to disapprove the deal,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday.
As I said, the Dems filibustered the disapproval bill and that’s that. But the show must go on.
And speaking of shows, you have to read this article by Stan Collender about the wingnut plans to shut down the government. Yes, they are doing that gambit again and this time it’s going to be a real circus. Here are their demands:
1. Increase military spending
2. Decrease domestic spending
3. Defund Planned Parenthood
4. Put restrictions on the Iran deal
Sure, why not? Read the whole thing to get an idea of the various sideshows and high wire acts they are thinking about. In a presidential election year.
They’re kamikazes.
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