Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) criticized President Obama for pursuing the Iran nuclear deal with only a minority of Senate votes in a speech Tuesday night, and sketched a strategy for the agreement’s opponents as the debate continues.
As the congressional review period for the Iran nuclear agreement expired on Tuesday, Cotton said, "It [is] bad precedent to allow a nuclear arms control agreement with a sworn enemy to go into effect without even a bare majority of support."
The president’s agreement with Iran was protected by a Democratic filibuster on Tuesday night, despite opposition from a Senate majority and the American public.
In an address before an audience from Hillsdale College, Cotton announced he will continue to fight the deal despite setbacks.
Cotton said he intends to "put other countries on notice" that the agreement can be revoked at any time by a future president, a tactic that recalls his letter to the leadership of Iran as the agreement was being negotiated.
By "isolating and impugning" the agreement as an aberration, Cotton says he hopes to discourage future presidents from pursuing major diplomatic agreements outside of the U.S. Constitution’s treaty process.
"Future presidents will see that securing the advice and consent of the Senate is the foundation of a truly secure legacy," Cotton said.
Cotton argued that the Founding Fathers intended for important international agreements to be passed with broad support by the Senate.
The Iran deal is not a treaty but an "executive agreement," a legal accord that has historically been used for minor administrative matters, not major rapprochements. This maneuver allowed President Obama to strike a deal without the two-thirds support in the Senate necessary to approve a treaty.
His administration has defended this approach, arguing that it is "physically impossible" to pass a treaty in an age of partisanship.
"Obama’s disregard for the treaty process is the height of hubris," Cotton said. "He mistook his desire for a legacy for a vital national interest."