House Rejects Iran Nuclear Deal

On the anniversary of Sept. 11, the House voted to reject the Iranian nuclear deal on a vote of 162-269.

Nearly the entire Republican caucus voted against the deal Friday, save for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) who voted “present.” Twenty-five Democrats joined Republicans in voting their disapproval.

The House’s rejection of the Iran nuclear deal will not have much force beyond putting members on record and sounding objection to the Obama deal as Thursday the deal survived a vote in the Senate.

Following the House’s vote rejecting the deal, the chamber voted 247-186 to prevent the president from waiving or reducing sanctions on Iran until January 21, 2017, when Obama is out of office.

Speaking on the House floor prior to the votes Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) called the votes “among the most consequential we’ll ever cast.”

“Never in our history has something with so many consequences for our national security been rammed through with such little support,” he said. “Today is September 11th. It is a day for all Americans to come together, and for us to keep the oath we swore to our Constitution. So our fight to stop this bad deal is frankly just beginning. We will not let the American people down.”

Thursday Boehner raised the possibility of another lawsuit against Obama over the deal, a suggestion White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest brushed aside as “desperation.”

After the vote, Obama issued a statement expressing gratitude to those lawmakers who supported the deal, specifically naming Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“Now, we must turn to the critical work of implementing and verifying this deal so that Iran cannot pursue a nuclear weapon. In doing so, we’ll write the latest chapter of American leadership in the pursuit of a safer, more hopeful world,” he said.