The Hill, 14 August 2015 – President Obama and his allies are working overtime to kill a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal in the Senate, in what would be a major victory for the White House.
The measure, which is certain to be approved in September by the GOP-led House, needs 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster and reach Obama’s desk.
If it gets to Obama, it will be vetoed, and it’s far from certain that opponents of the Iran deal will muster the two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate to override him.
But make no mistake. The White House doesn’t want the measure to get that far, and if it does, it will be a victory for Republicans.
Democratic aides in the Senate predict they will be able to hold their ranks, but people on both sides of the fight say it will be a close call.
With Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Democratic leader-in-waiting backing the disapproval measure, aides say opponents likely need just four or five additional no votes to win the day.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), who is leading the push to round up votes to block the resolution, won’t predict an outcome.
“It’s unrealistic that we would win a majority,” he said in an interview. “At this point, I’m not getting any numbers out but we’re working with all members and the response has been positive.”
Still, there are some Senate Democrats who have not backed Obama’s deal yet, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and another member of his leadership team, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.).
Many expect Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to vote for the resolution of disapproval.
Menendez has been critical of the deal in a series of public comments, though in an interview with The Hill on Thursday he said that speculation he is definitely a “no” is unfounded.
“I always marvel that everybody looks at my questions at hearings and the nature of my questioning, which comes from a lot of time as a lawyer and 23 years of hearings,” he said. “The purpose of the hearing is not to say I checked in, the purpose is to get all of the facts.” 
Menendez, who says he will announce his decision next week, has secluded himself during the first week of the August recess to reread the agreement and review congressional testimony.
“I had a box sent to me from my Washington office that I had packed, full of testimony that I wanted to read through carefully,” he said.
Secure America Now, a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to national security issues, has organized a multistate lobbying effort targeted at wavering Democrats.
This week they’ve organized nearly 1,000 Coloradans to call Bennet and 700 in Maryland to call Cardin, urging them to disapprove the deal. Three thousand people have emailed Cardin’s staff as part of the effort.
Opponents are targeting Flake, and Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) with similar campaigns.