article_snippet: A few weeks ago, skeptical Democrats appeared to be lining up with Republicans and approaching a veto-proof Senate majority that could have forced Obama to submit a deal to Congress or accept the passage of new sanctions.
article_snippet: But Republicans letter and a fiercely critical speech to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the proposed deal prompted some skeptical Democrats to close ranks, at least temporarily.
article_snippet: But Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that Obama was on the cusp of agreeing a "very bad" deal that would allow Iran to keep Iran nuclear infrastructure intact.
article_snippet: Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if an agreement is reached, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would bring up legislation that would give Congress 60 days to back or reject a deal, despite fresh pleas from the White House for the GOP to hold off.
article_snippet: Republican sources, meanwhile, said that despite the furor over the letter from the senators, no Democrats had yet formally pulled support for legislation requiring the Senate to have a say on a "very bad" deal that would allow Iran to keep its nuclear infrastructure intact.
article_snippet: Did 47 Republican senators break the law in plain sight?
article_snippet: Instead, GOP congressmen counter that several bills GOP congressmen are pushing, with significant Democratic support, do not forestall the possibility of continued diplomacy if talks fail.
article_snippet: GOP congressmen say that extra sanctions would increase Obama's leverage in diplomacy, not weaken it.
article_snippet: And the stiff Republican opposition means a deal is not assured of surviving the arrival of a new president in the White House come 2017.
article_snippet: Congress would face the same cost-benefit calculation when it comes to the sanctions only lawmakers can expunge.
article_snippet: In the event of a Democratic White House victory in 2016, the congressional math could also change in favor of a deal.
article_snippet: And if Republicans keep Republicans majorities, lawmakers who are bent on thwarting Obama may be less willing to handcuff a new GOP president.