Supporters of Iran nuclear deal feel momentum on Capitol Hill

In this July 16, 2015 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday. The lone Democratic senator to publicly oppose President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran said Tuesday that even if the US backs away and other countries lift their sanctions, Iran still will feel “meaningful pressure” from the US penalties. AP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON — Congressional supporters of the Iran nuclear deal see growing momentum on their side in the Senate, raising the possibility they’ll be able to block a disapproval resolution and protect President Barack Obama from having to use his veto pen.

Such an outcome — which looked all but inconceivable in the days after the deal was signed July 14, and remains a long-shot — would be a major victory for Obama, who is staking his foreign policy legacy largely on the agreement struck by the US, Iran and five world powers to dismantle most of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions in sanctions relief.

It would take 41 Democratic senators to block the disapproval resolution scheduled for a vote next month; only 34 would be required to uphold an Obama veto of such a resolution.

As of now 28 Democratic senators publicly support the deal, with just two opposed. But supporters feel so confident that they can get to 34 that some have begun to say in private that 41 may even be in reach.

Many caution that remains a remote possibility, with Republicans unanimously opposed and Israeli officials arguing vehemently against a deal they say could empower enemies sworn to their destruction. And yet predictions that Republican opponents and the powerful-pro-Israel lobby would use Congress’ August recess to make the deal politically toxic have not come to pass.

Although polls register significant public concerns about the agreement, undeclared Democratic senators have increasingly broken in favor. The latest to do so were Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who announced his support over the weekend, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who followed on Monday.

“We feel good about the fact that after two-thirds of the Democratic caucus has committed that we have substantial support for the president with only two dissenters,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who’s leading the whip operation in favor of the deal, said in an interview. “We continue to work it. I think the two that came out this week so far, Harry Reid and Debbie Stabenow, are very helpful,” said Durbin, though he declined to predict success.

Reid told reporters in Las Vegas attending a clean energy conference Monday that he expects to see a couple more “yes” votes in the next couple days.

The disapproval resolution is certain to pass the House, though Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has declared that Democrats have the votes to sustain an Obama veto. Two-thirds votes are required in each chamber to override a presidential veto.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal Jewish group supporting the deal, said his group is telling senators that since the deal clearly seems to command the support to prevail in the end, they should think twice about voting for a resolution of disapproval that would only end up getting vetoed.

A spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is spending millions to try to kill the deal, maintained opponents will prevail.