No sooner had President Barack Obama announced a nuclear deal with Iran than Sen. Chuck Schumer issued a statement pledging to go through it with a fine-tooth comb, talk with administration officials, listen to experts on all sides and carefully study it.
Everything, that is, except provide even a whisper of a hint of how he will vote on it.
It’s a political straddle that reflects the 64-year-old New York senator’s competing roles as next-in-line Senate Democratic leader, leading fundraiser and strategist for his party, and lawmaker from a state that is home to more than a million-and-a-half Jews.
“Sen. Schumer is going to be instrumental in helping to determine where this lands,” said Rep. Steve Israel, a fellow Jewish Democratic lawmaker from New York who’s been an outspoken skeptic on the deal. As the White House lobbies senators to support the pact, “He’s going to have a major role in determining where they end up.”
Observers on and off Capitol Hill say that the only chance congressional opponents have is if they get Schumer in their corner.
Sometime in the fall, Congress will vote on whether to approve or disapprove of the Iran deal. If enough hawkish Democrats join Republicans and the disapprove side prevails, Obama would veto the legislation.
At that point the focus would turn to whether Congress could override Obama’s veto, which takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. Chances of that are slim, but with Schumer on their side opponents might stand a chance.
“There is no way a veto would be overridden without Sen. Schumer,” said Aaron Keyak, a consultant to several Jewish groups and former Democratic congressional aide. “Finding 67 votes to override a presidential veto is a very high threshold and there is no way to get to that number without Sen. Schumer.”

AP, Washington, 16 July 2015