Prevails

Obama prevails on Iran deal

Sen. Barbara Mikulski says she will back the president's nuclear pact.

By Seung Min Kim

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced Wednesday that she would back President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran — becoming the 34th vote in the Senate in favor of the agreement and ensuring that the accord will be protected from attempts to kill it in Congress.

“No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said. “I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal. However, Congress must also reaffirm our commitment to the safety and security of Israel.”

The administration needed to prevent opponents of the Iran deal from reaching a two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto of legislation scuttling the deal. But the momentum to preserve the Iran accord has shifted dramatically in favor of Obama — with backers of the agreement now focusing on securing 41 votes in favor of the nuclear accord to prevent a resolution of disapproval from ever reaching Obama’s desk.

The decision from Mikulski, a veteran senator retiring after 2016, comes as her fellow Maryland Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin, was speaking at a forum with students at the University of Maryland on the deal. Cardin, the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, is perhaps the most high-profile Senate Democrat who is still undecided on the Iran deal.

“It is unclear what is going to happen if we go forward [with the agreement],” he told the students. “It’s unclear what’s going to happen if we don’t go forward.”