article_snippet: It's that skepticism that has largely led the White House to define the deal as a "nonbinding agreement" rather than a "treaty," which the Constitution requires Senate "advice and consent" on.
article_snippet: It is a very interesting question," said Nicholas Burns, a former senior U.S. diplomat, arguing that it is essentially up to the administration to decide whether it is negotiating an agreement that formally binds the United States to commitments under international law; i.e., a treaty, or a less stringent arrangement.
article_snippet: Jim Walsh, a specialist on the Iran nuclear program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the Iran deal, which commits the United States to waive or lift sanctions, does not rise to the level of a formal treaty.
article_snippet: Treaties traditionally have involved reductions in armaments, nuclear weapons, conventional forces.
article_snippet: Jim Walsh, a specialist on the Iran nuclear program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology require us to take something away that us have already built or established.
article_snippet: us have had all sorts of agreement that were never ratified by Congress," Walsh said.
article_snippet: When Vice President Joe Biden was a senator in 2002, Vice President Joe Biden wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to the Senate approval since subject to Senate approval would require "significant obligations by the United States.
article_snippet: But a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to Senate approval since it would require "significant obligations by the United States didn't keep Vice President Joe Biden from unleashing Vice President Joe Biden fury at a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to Senate approval since it would require "significant obligations by the United States to Iran on Monday.
article_snippet: While Congress approves some agreements, "as the authors of a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to Senate approval since it would require "significant obligations by the United States must know, the vast majority of our international commitments take effect without congressional approval.
article_snippet: Indeed, in a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to Senate approval since it would require "significant obligations by the United States, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton acknowledged that the administration could seek a mere "executive agreement" free of congressional review.
article_snippet: Presidents claim inherent powers to conclude executive agreements under Article II of the Constitution.
article_snippet: U.S. law stipulates that an agreement is only viewed as a treaty once U.S. law has been made with "the advice and consent of the Senate," a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service noted.
article_snippet: But administrations often choose to conclude deals with foreign states that don't satisfy that requirement.
article_snippet: Such an "executive agreement" is still considered a treaty that is binding under international law, but does not reach the same standard under U.S. law, according to " a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
article_snippet: Examples of "nonbinding" documents include a U.S.-Russia to remove Syria's stocks of chemical weapons and the Proliferation Security Initiative to stop the global shipment of the weapons of mass destruction components.
article_snippet: The White House would clearly prefer a binding agreement with Iran, which would have a better chance of longevity.