Iran has a deal for President Donald Trump, and a deadline to go with it.
Tehran’s latest proposal, pressed through mediators this week, asks Washington to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil, and end the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, all within four to five days. Nuclear talks would begin within a week. Iranian officials have even pitched the deal as a boost for Trump in the midterm elections.
Trump called the offer unacceptable, and he’s right to drive a harder bargain. But talks resumed Monday, and after seven months of war and painful gas prices, a deal may come soon. When it does, one question matters as much as its terms. Will Congress see it before Iran gets paid?
The law says it must. The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act requires the president to send Congress any agreement related to Iran’s nuclear program within five days, and it bars statutory sanctions relief for 30 days while lawmakers review it. The Senate passed that law, 98-1, in 2015 to make sure former President Barack Obama couldn’t hand Tehran a windfall without Congress weighing in.
That law has already been tested once, and it failed. The Trump administration signed its memorandum of understanding with Iran on June 17. The next day, Vice President JD Vance said the administration was “quite confident” it could temporarily lift sanctions without going to Congress, citing a Justice Department opinion that has never been made public. On June 22, Treasury authorized the sale of Iranian oil while the review period was still running. Harvard’s Jack Goldsmith concluded the administration probably lacked the authority to do it. The deal collapsed anyway, and Treasury revoked the license on July 7.
Now Congress is about to make the same mistake easier to repeat. The House left Washington on Sept. 16 and won’t return until Nov. 9. The Senate leaves this week. If a deal lands in October, the review clock will run while no one is even in the building.
The Framers saw this coming. Alexander Hamilton, no enemy of executive power, warned in Federalist No. 75 that dealings with foreign nations were too consequential to leave to the sole discretion of a president. That is why the Constitution gives Congress power over foreign commerce and the Senate a role in treaties. The sanctions at issue are statutes Congress wrote. A president can negotiate alone, but can’t repeal laws alone.
Some argue the review law should be scrapped because it slows down peace. Perhaps Congress should amend it. But that is Congress’s call, made by changing the law, not by letting the executive branch ignore it.
Before senators leave town, three things should happen.
First, Senate leaders of both parties should secure a public commitment from the administration. No statutory sanctions relief for Iran until any agreement is sent to Congress and the review period runs its course.
Second, if a deal is reached during the recess, both chambers should come back. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already said he can recall the House on 48 hours’ notice.
Third, Republicans should remember where they stood in 2015. Conservatives argued then that Obama’s Iran deal deserved real congressional scrutiny. That principle shouldn’t expire when the president changes parties.
CONGRESS IS HIDING TRUMP’S $45 BILLION IRAN WAR BILL UNTIL AFTER YOU VOTE
Ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz would be good for America. A deal that can outlast the next election would be even better, and deals that skip Congress rarely do. Obama’s didn’t.
Tehran wants its money in five days. Congress should take the 30 days that the law gives it.
Tony Vanderhoef writes on Congress and legislative affairs, with work published in The Hill and the Washington Examiner. He is a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow and a law student at Florida State University College of Law.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
