WASHINGTON—Overcoming ferocious opposition, President Barack Obama secured a legacy-defining foreign policy victory Wednesday, Sept. 2, as Senate Democrats clinched the necessary votes to ensure the Iran nuclear agreement survives in Congress.
The decisive 34th commitment came from Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring next year after three decades in the Senate. In a statement, she said “no deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime.” But she called the pact “the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb.”
Supporters now have the votes in hand to uphold Obama’s veto, if one becomes necessary, of a resolution of disapproval that Republicans are trying to pass this month. GOP lawmakers who control the House and Senate ardently oppose the agreement, which curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions.
