WASHINGTON
A Senate committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a compromise bill that gives Congress more say in a final Iran accord.
Lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill in a bipartisan 19-0 vote.
The agreement comes as Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior administration officials briefed Congress behind closed doors for a second consecutive day of ongoing nuclear talks.
President Barack Obama has worked tirelessly to stop lawmakers from passing new sanctions legislation on Iran, which administration officials say could potentially derail ongoing negotiations with Iran and weaken international support for existing sanctions.
He previously threatened to veto similar legislation.
The bill will require Obama to submit any final agreement with Iran to Congress, which will have 30 days to review the accord, an additional 12 days for Obama to accept or veto legislation that Congress passes, and 10 days for Congress to decide on a potential veto override vote, according to U.S. media.
Congress would need a two-thirds majority vote each from the Senate and the House to override a presidential veto.
Obama could lift executive sanctions during the 30-day review window, but would not be allowed to take similar action on congressional sanctions.
If a final nuclear deal were submitted to Congress after July 9, the review period would be extended to 60 days – a timeframe that lawmakers had initially sought.
The compromise accord further removed amendments that would have required the president to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is not supporting terrorism against Americans.
"We have reached a bipartisan agreement that keeps the congressional review process absolutely intact," Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on U.S. news network MSNBC.
“We have the right to know that Iran is complying. We have the ability to take actions if they're not,” he added.
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that lawmakers “should have the opportunity to review this deal.”
“We shouldn't just count on the administration, who appears to want a deal at any cost,” he added.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest indicated to reporters that Obama would be willing to sign the bill.
"Despite the things about it that we don't like, enough substantial changes have been made that the president would be willing to sign it because it would reflect the kind of compromise that he'd be willing to sign," he said, adding that the White House supports the shortening of the review period and removal of the terrorism certification amendment.
He warned, however, that the administration would “vigorously oppose” congressional action that seeks to tie the bill to issues not directly related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Negotiators from the U.S. and other world powers are attempting to broker a landmark accord with Iran that would see the Islamic republic accept restrictions and unprecedented inspections on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
A June 30 deadline is set for agreement on a final accord following a hard-fought political framework deal brokered earlier in April.
The bill will now move to the full Senate floor for debate.
