White House in a fight for authority over Iran deal

Officials in the administration are said to be ramping up their efforts for congressional support before a March 31 deadline.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The White House (photo credit: REUTERS)
The White House
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The White House is reportedly intensifying its efforts to garner Congressional support for its deal with Iran and to convince policy makers to  allow the administration to hold authority over the plans.
According to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said that the Obama administration's efforts to get the full support of Congress on the Iran deal is “ratcheting up by the hour.” 
“There’s a recognition that Congress is going to take some sort of vote after negotiations are complete,” he said.
The Journal reported that officials were using "behind-the-scenes strategy" including lobbying in efforts to convince skeptical members of Congress on all sides of the political spectrum to support them on the Iran deal.
According to the report, White House officials told skeptical Democrats they would be empowering the Republicans in Congress if they oppose US President Barack Obama's Iran negotiations.
Meanwhile, reaching out to Republicans, White House officials said they could be open to giving Congress partial oversight of the nuclear deal, but only if an agreement is reached by the March 31 deadline. Still, the White House remains opposed to legislation that would let Congress have a complete final say on any deal.
In the past, the administration hinted that it was open to supporting a bill that would require the administration to prove that Iran was complying with the agreement terms, whatever they may be. This bill proposal does not give Congress any authority over the deal's terms.
On Monday, the foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China continued meetings in the Swiss city of Lausanne in a final push for a preliminary accord to outline a deal to end Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West.
Reuters contributed to this report.