Irate Democrats Denounce G.O.P on Iran Letter
WASHINGTON — Angry Democrats on Tuesday excoriated the open letter sent to Iran’s leadership warning about a nuclear agreement with President Obama, but the 47 Republicans who signed it remained defiant and unapologetic, saying the president should have seen their opposition coming.
The recriminations from Democrats threatened to unravel the bipartisan coalition that had been building to oppose a deal, though Democrats also confronted the choice between challenging Tehran and rallying behind the president.
“I think Republicans have made it harder for us to approach this in a careful and bipartisan way,” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, who has led his party’s push for congressional review of the administration’s policies on war and sanctions, and sponsored a bill that would allow Congress to review any removal of congressionally imposed sanctions against Iran.
Democrats said the Republicans’ letter, written by Senator Tom Cotton, a freshman from Arkansas, undermined Mr. Obama’s efforts to reach an agreement but also weakened their resolve to cross party lines and challenge their own president.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/us/politics/republican-moves-imperil-democratic-cooperation-on-iran.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0