<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/> (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans will pushahead with legislation reflecting their deep mistrust of anuclear deal with Iran whatever the outcome of talks betweenTehran and major powers in Switzerland, setting up furtherconfrontation with President Barack Obama.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Just what action they will take - and how much support theyget from Democrats - depends on the details agreed bynegotiators from United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russiaand China in Lausanne who are edging toward a preliminary dealdue by the end of Tuesday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>If that deadline is missed, Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell has said lawmakers would vote on a bill to impose newsanctions on Iran if it does not come to a final agreement bythe scheduled date of June 30. The aim would be to increasepressure on Iran to compromise in the last months of the talks.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Even if negotiators come up with an interim deal now,McConnell says he will introduce a different bill that wouldrequire Obama to submit a final agreement for Congress' approvaland block for two months his right to waive sanctions.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The Obama administration says either bill, by sending asignal of a divided Washington, could endanger a finalagreement. If lawmakers decide on more sanctions, it could makeit more difficult to convince Iranians that Obama can deliverrelief from the measures already crippling their economy.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Many lawmakers, including Democrats, worry that Obama is soeager for an agreement that he may leave the Islamic Republicwith the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists itsnuclear program is purely peaceful.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, said he wanted to see the result ofthe negotiations before coming to any conclusion.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"Let's see what the agreement says and judge itaccordingly," he told Reuters.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>But the chances of gaining enough bipartisan support to passnew Iran legislation appear to have dimmed since the divisiveaddress to Congress this month by Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu railing against the emerging deal.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Many Democrats were furious when the Republicans, withoutinforming the White House, invited Netanyahu to give the speech.Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Democrat leaders in the Houseand Senate, respectively, say Congress should wait for theoutcome of negotiations before acting.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Despite the Republicans' majority in both houses ofCongress, they face considerable obstacles getting the billspassed, and Obama has said he would veto them.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Senate Democrats could filibuster either bill, which wouldmean they would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber where thereare 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Should enough Democrats join the Republicans and back thelegislation, it is unlikely Congress would be able to overridehis veto by the required two-thirds majority. This would need 13of the Democratic senators and 43 of the 188 Democrats in theHouse of Representatives to vote with Republicans, if everyRepublican supported the bill.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Congress has overridden only 110 of the roughly 1,500presidential vetoes in U.S. history. The last was in July 2008,when Congress overrode Republican George W. Bush's veto of abill related to the Medicare healthcare system for the elderly.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Early this month, the Senate mustered only 62 votes for abid to override Obama's veto of legislation approving theKeystone XL oil pipeline, a measure far less partisan than theIran talks.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>McConnell visited Israel last weekend with a delegation ofRepublican lawmakers, and stood beside Netanyahu on Sunday as hecriticized the deal being negotiated in Lausanne.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Congress would eventually have to vote to permanently repealthe Iran sanctions, but that would not be expected to take placeuntil well into the lifetime of a final agreement.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Whatever happens in the Lausanne talks, it will be some timebefore Congress acts. Lawmakers are out of Washington for theirannual Easter recess, and do not return until April 13. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by David Storey andStuart Grudgings)
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>Just what action they will take - and how much support theyget from Democrats - depends on the details agreed bynegotiators from United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russiaand China in Lausanne who are edging toward a preliminary dealdue by the end of Tuesday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>If that deadline is missed, Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell has said lawmakers would vote on a bill to impose newsanctions on Iran if it does not come to a final agreement bythe scheduled date of June 30. The aim would be to increasepressure on Iran to compromise in the last months of the talks.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Even if negotiators come up with an interim deal now,McConnell says he will introduce a different bill that wouldrequire Obama to submit a final agreement for Congress' approvaland block for two months his right to waive sanctions.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The Obama administration says either bill, by sending asignal of a divided Washington, could endanger a finalagreement. If lawmakers decide on more sanctions, it could makeit more difficult to convince Iranians that Obama can deliverrelief from the measures already crippling their economy.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Many lawmakers, including Democrats, worry that Obama is soeager for an agreement that he may leave the Islamic Republicwith the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists itsnuclear program is purely peaceful.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, said he wanted to see the result ofthe negotiations before coming to any conclusion.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"Let's see what the agreement says and judge itaccordingly," he told Reuters.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>But the chances of gaining enough bipartisan support to passnew Iran legislation appear to have dimmed since the divisiveaddress to Congress this month by Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu railing against the emerging deal.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Many Democrats were furious when the Republicans, withoutinforming the White House, invited Netanyahu to give the speech.Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Democrat leaders in the Houseand Senate, respectively, say Congress should wait for theoutcome of negotiations before acting.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Despite the Republicans' majority in both houses ofCongress, they face considerable obstacles getting the billspassed, and Obama has said he would veto them.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Senate Democrats could filibuster either bill, which wouldmean they would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber where thereare 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Should enough Democrats join the Republicans and back thelegislation, it is unlikely Congress would be able to overridehis veto by the required two-thirds majority. This would need 13of the Democratic senators and 43 of the 188 Democrats in theHouse of Representatives to vote with Republicans, if everyRepublican supported the bill.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Congress has overridden only 110 of the roughly 1,500presidential vetoes in U.S. history. The last was in July 2008,when Congress overrode Republican George W. Bush's veto of abill related to the Medicare healthcare system for the elderly.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Early this month, the Senate mustered only 62 votes for abid to override Obama's veto of legislation approving theKeystone XL oil pipeline, a measure far less partisan than theIran talks.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>McConnell visited Israel last weekend with a delegation ofRepublican lawmakers, and stood beside Netanyahu on Sunday as hecriticized the deal being negotiated in Lausanne.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Congress would eventually have to vote to permanently repealthe Iran sanctions, but that would not be expected to take placeuntil well into the lifetime of a final agreement.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Whatever happens in the Lausanne talks, it will be some timebefore Congress acts. Lawmakers are out of Washington for theirannual Easter recess, and do not return until April 13. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by David Storey andStuart Grudgings)
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