Two Democratic U.S. senators from Maryland – Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski – remain undecided about the agreement. Cardin is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Congress is in the midst of a 60-day period to review the Obama administration-brokered Iran nuclear deal.
While it is expected that virtually all 54 Republicans in the Senate will vote against the Iran deal, 67 anti-deal votes are needed to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a possible Congressional rejection of the pact. The only two Senate Democrats who have publicly come out against the agreement so far are Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.).
Asked where Cardin stands on the nuclear deal, and whether or not his decision will be affected by the recent report that the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog made a side agreement with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to carry out its own inspections at the Parchin nuclear site, Cardin spokesperson Sue Walitsky said the senator told JNS:
[He] continues to review all aspects of the agreement to determine what decision he’ll make.
He continues to study the details of this deal, reach out to experts for answers to his many questions, and engage Marylanders to get their thoughts.
There is great intensity on all sides of this issue, but the feedback has been decidedly mixed. He believes that each senator and member of Congress has to make his or her own decision based on what is right for our country—not party, not president, but the national security of the United States of America.
He does not plan to rush his decision based on what others may decide.
When contacted by JNS.org, Mikulski’s office said the senator is currently traveling and unable to return a request for comment.