DW.com, 10 August 2015 – The rejection of the Iran deal by key Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer creates a huge headache for Barack Obama to get it through Congress. With others still on the fence, the White House is trying to shore up its votes.

When Senator Chuck Schumer went public last week with his opposition against the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and five other major powers with Iran, the White House immediately switched to damage control mode.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest quickly tried to downplay the New York Senator’s decision saying it was “not particularly surprising to anybody here at the White House.” But Earnest’s suggestion that fellow Democrats should consider Schumer’s stance when the influential Democrat is up to become his party’s next leader in the Senate in 2017 shows that Schumer’s public break stung the Obama administration.
Schumer was not alone. Representative Eliot Engel, another lawmaker from New York, declared his opposition to the deal on the same day.
Blow for Obama

Schumer is the most prominent Democratic lawmaker against the deal

For Republicans, who have vowed to vote against the deal  Schumer’s decision raises the hopes that other still undecided Democrats may follow suit.
“I think it will provide cover for some Democrats – like Engel – who where already inclined to oppose the deal,” said Miles Pomper, a Senior Research Associate with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
Two-thirds majority needed
Republicans have already promised to pass – and they probably do have the votes – a resolution to nix the accord after Congress comes back from recess in September. President Obama meanwhile has already promised to veto any attempts to kill the deal.
To override his veto, Republicans, would need a two-third majority in both chambers of Congress; a tall order for the GOP, because it would need to get a large number of undecided Democrats to switch and vote with them to sink the Iran deal.
The Obama administration is now expected to increase its efforts to secure enough votes in Congress to try to ensure the eventual passage of the agreement.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already blasted Obama’s pitch for the Iran nuclear deal, saying it was “absurd” to argue that lawmakers must essentially choose between the agreement or going to war. “It’s not this deal versus war”, he said. “That’s the argument they’ve been making during the whole negotiation. It’s either this deal or a better deal, or more sanctions.”