The State Department has confirmed that it has sent the official terms of the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran to the US Congress today, and it will formally begin the 60-day review period for Congress to vote on the accord as of Monday.
Both houses of Congress would need a two-thirds majority to kill the nuclear deal over President Obama’s objections, and they are being lobbied heavily by Israel to do so, though it seems extremely unlikely that this will actually happen.
Congress is expected to use virtually the whole 60-day period, with leaders saying a vote is unlikely before September. The effort for the Israel Lobby is going to be primarily on lobbying Democrats to oppose the deal, a test for the Obama Administration’s ability to keep the minority party in line.
At the same time, a few Congressional Republicans have insisted they want to hear about the deal before they make a decision, and the administration is expected to heavily court them as well, as this would make the supermajorities even harder to come by.
The administration had initially sought to get the deal to Congress before July 9, which would’ve cut the review period to 30 days, but the deal was not finalized until a few days later.