Schumer says he will oppose Iran nuclear deal

Senator Schumer is well respected in the democratic caucus and has already gathered enough support to become the next senate democratic leader when Harry Reid steps down. “If this is what counts as “leadership” among Democrats in the Senate, Senate Democrats should be prepared to find a new leader or few followers”. Republicans, who control the House and Senate, are uniformly opposed to the deal.

Seen as a top congressional ally of Israel, Schumer was pressed by powerful pro-Israel organizations to oppose the nuclear agreement.

Congress is set to vote on the agreement next month.

“There are some who believe that I can force my colleagues to vote my way”, Mr Schumer said about his opposition to the deal. “I would respectfully suggest that rejection is not a policy for the future, it does not offer any alternative.”.

“They are much closer to the right wing Netanyahu government than they are to what their constituents, the American jews, actually think”, he said.

Congress is now working toward a September vote that will allow lawmakers to vote to approve or disapprove the agreement, which would relieve sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the country’s nuclear energy program.

Earnest declined to comment on whether the timing of Schumer’s announcement took the White House off guard, coming as it did during the middle of the first Republican presidential debate Thursday night.

“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that can not simply be dismissed”, Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a post on the site Medium.

“After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval”, he said in a statement.

The administration, which has lobbied intensely for the pact, has secured the backing of more than a dozen Senate Democrats and more than two-dozen House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Several prominent U.S. scientists – including some who have been instrumental in the development of nuclear weapons technology – are coming out in defense of the nuclear weapons deal with Iran, according to the New York Times.

Mr Schumer’s colleague from New York, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, has announced her support and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin said she would back the agreement because it “will best serve America’s national security interests”. Eliot Engel, Ted Deutch and Nita Lowey.

“The very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great, ” Schumer said in opposing the pact.

Schumer argued the better option would be to keep U.S. sanctions in place, strengthen them, enforce secondary sanctions on other nations and try another round of diplomacy.

“I would describe this as an announcement that was not particularly surprising to anyone here at the White House, even if it was disappointing”, Earnest added.

Schumer joined a handful of Jewish Democrats who have announced their opposition — Reps.