Funding for Planned Parenthood and perhaps the entire federal government are not the only things House conservatives want to blow up.
It's readily apparent that the chickenhawks have lost and the Iran peace deal will survive their attempts to block it, but that won't stop some House Republicans from devising a plan to stop it even if that means going to court.
The House Freedom Caucus wants to delay and possibly block a vote on a resolution of disapproval. That may not make any sense given that they disapprove of the deal, but it makes sense if you understand their intentions. The Freedom Caucus held a pow-wow last night where they considered their alternatives.
via RollCall
“I think the plan is just to say that there’s a law on Corker-Cardin, it hasn’t been followed, we can’t ignore it, so to continue on with a vote in light of the administration not adhering to the law would be erroneous and really usurp the authority of Congress,” Mark Meadows told CQ Roll Call on Tuesday night after an HFC meeting in the basement of Tortilla Coast.
Yes, they meet in a basement where one imagines they're reminded to drink their Ovaltine.
The deadline for Congress to initially approve or disapprove of the Iran deal is Sept. 17, and if Congress does nothing, the administration will most likely argue the agreement can take effect. From one GOP perspective, since the Iran deal is almost certain to go through anyway, Republicans might as well maintain the ability to argue that the president has not complied with the review act, and therefore, the deal is invalid.
The whole situation might end up as an ongoing PR battle that requires a judge to sort out.
Republicans acknowledge that they cannot block the deal outright so, from their point of view, they should allow it to take effect and then claim it's invalid.
The Freedom Caucus contends that bilateral agreements between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran must be reviewed by Congress or the entire peace agreement is defunct.
That is, of course, nonsense but I would not be the least bit surprised to see them attempt to litigate policy yet again. Republicans have litigated nearly every major policy of the Obama administration and yet they complain about courts who, to their surprise, disagree with Republican positions more often than not.
It's up to House Leadership and Speaker Boehner to decide if they want to proceed with a vote on a resolution of disapproval or not hold a vote at all and take their chances in court.
If House leadership does move ahead with a vote, the vote will take place on Friday, September 11th. It doesn't get much more cynical than that.