Congress
White House delivers Iran agreement to Congress
The White House sent the “memorandum of understanding” putting hostilities with Iran on hold to Congress on Thursday, after days of complaints from lawmakers of both parties that they didn’t receive the agreement sooner.
The document obtained by POLITICO lays out 14 points the U.S. and Iran reached over at least temporarily ending the nearly four-month military campaign launched by President Donald Trump.
Congress received the agreement after Trump signed it Wednesday night in France and shortly before Vice President JD Vance briefed reporters at the White House on the deal, which sets up 60 days of further negotiations on the fate of the Iran nuclear program.
A swath of GOP senators and some House Republicans were livid Wednesday when a Trump administration official read the memorandum to reporters before sharing the document with lawmakers.
Senior White House officials have held small-group and individual calls with select GOP lawmakers, but an all-member briefing from Trump administration officials on the agreement is not expected until next week.
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker on Thursday panned the Iran peace deal signed by President Donald Trump this week, saying the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”
The Mississippi Republican, a vocal defense hawk, has repeatedly warned against negotiating with Tehran, arguing that the country’s leadership can’t be trusted to fulfill any agreement. Wicker has instead urged Trump to end a months-long ceasefire and continue bombing Iran.
In a statement, Wicker criticized the $300 billion fund for Iran’s reconstruction and economic development, even if the money is not supplied by American taxpayers. Administration officials have said the money, coming from regional partners, would be made available only if Iran reaches certain compliance benchmarks.
Wicker said he believes the money will instead be used for terrorist activities, regardless of the guardrails put in place.
“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” he said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”
Wicker is among a chorus of influential Republicans to criticize the nascent deal. The Trump administration sent the 14-point document to Congress on Thursday.
Some have expressed concerns about whether the agreement will free up funds for Iran and whether the pact does enough to limit its nuclear ambitions.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who was defeated in a primary after Trump endorsed one of his opponents, assailed the administration’s deal as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Cassidy wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) defended the deal as an important preliminary step but also dismissed the $300 billion fund as “not something that’s going to happen.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said the potential end to the war and the resumption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are “a step in the right direction,” though he worries Iran might use the windfall of access to frozen assets to support proxy groups in the Middle East.
“I have more concerns about the release of frozen assets,” Rounds said. “If that’s the case, what stops them from using that to fund Hezbollah and other terrorist activities as they have done in the past?”
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who has been missing from Capitol Hill since March 5, will return to work later this month — 117 days after his last vote.
Harrison Neely, a spokesperson for Kean, said the 57-year-old lawmaker plans to attend the June 30 House session. It is the first time Kean’s office has provided a specific date for his return. Neely did not disclose any further details about Kean’s extended absence, which his team has attributed to an undisclosed health issue.
“Congressman Kean is eager to return to in person work on June 30 and resume a full schedule,” Neely said. The New Jersey Globe first reported on the return date.
As Kean was missing scores of votes, House GOP leaders had to contend with an even thinner majority than they already had. He now returns to face a highly competitive race to keep his seat in November, with national groups heavily backing Democratic nominee Rebecca Bennett.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled deep uncertainty Thursday over the fate of Jay Clayton’s nomination as director of national intelligence.
Its future, he told reporters, is essentially up to President Donald Trump.
Asked whether Clayton’s nomination was being withdrawn, Thune pointed to the White House for answers.
“I’ve never been asked to slow a nomination down before,” he said.
Asked for a further explanation of why Trump effectively killed the Senate GOP’s hopes of quickly confirming Clayton and unlocking an extension of key surveillance law, Thune mentioned the acting director of national intelligence who is set to start Friday: “I think he’s very committed to Bill Pulte.”
“I don’t have good answers for these questions — those are probably better asked of the president and his team,” he added. “We are just executing or trying to execute on what they had asked us to.”
Trump’s early-morning Truth Social post Wednesday was only the latest instance where the president caught Republicans off-guard and frustrating GOP senators who worry that he is undercutting their efforts to pass a legislative agenda and help their party’s chances in the midterms.
Trump has fumed in particular over Senate Republicans’ inability to pass a GOP elections overhaul, the SAVE America Act, which doesn’t have 50 votes, much less the 60 needed to defeat a Democratic filibuster.
“We’re going to do everything we can to work — as I’ve said before — in a constructive way on an agenda, but it’s going to be an agenda that we can get the votes to pass,” he said.
Thune went on to comment on Trump’s peace agreement with Iran, which has sparked angst among Senate Republicans. He said that he expects senators to be briefed on the “memorandum of understanding” signed by Trump Wednesday early next week.
“I think it’s good for Americans in the sense that opening up the [Strait of Hormuz] and getting the shipping lanes opened is going to make it easier to get things in and out,” Thune said, adding that he needs “to learn more about” a $300 billion reconstruction fund included in the agreement.
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