Is Iran deal the GOP's new Obamacare?
Iran sanctions bills have always been bipartisan. Not anymore.
A key House panel on Jan. 7 passed Iran sanctions legislation along party lines, breaking a long tradition of bipartisan cooperation on the issue.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that critics say would make it impossible for the United States to live up to its end of the Iran deal. The full House will vote on the measure Jan. 13 before Republicans leave for their annual retreat, a House leadership aide said.
Not one Democrat on the panel ended up voting for the measure, prompting comparisons to repeated Republican efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law that have energized the party faithful in election years while accomplishing little of substance.
"Congress had an opportunity to vote on the [Iran] deal, and we lost," ranking member and Iran deal opponent Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said before voting against the bill. "I don't want to vote 62 or 63 times on killing the Iran agreement. We already had one several months ago, and this is now the second one. And I'm afraid we're following the same path that we're following with the Affordable Health Care Act."
