Skeptical Republicans in Congress are not backing Trump on the Iran deal before reading the text
WASHINGTON — Members of the House of Republicans are hesitant to support President Trump’s secret Iran deal as they are still waiting to read the document, which has not been shared by even senior officials.
“Unless you’re homeschooled by a day drinker, no one is sure that Iran is going to do anything,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters, after saying, “I want to study for myself.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) – a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, which often intervenes in national security issues – said on Tuesday that he had not been briefed.
“Right now there is no text,” Thune told reporters of the deal, which was signed privately on Sunday by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.
“We will be notified when there is a document available,” said Thune, who may eventually be called upon to push through the deal with the Senate, which has a constitutional role in approving treaties.
Thune said he had received no guidance from the White House about when the cloud of uncertainty might lift — with Trump and his top aides offering conflicting timelines for public policy disclosures.
“My opinion is that [the briefing will happen] as the week goes on and we are getting closer to the public release this will happen,” he said.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls for 60 days, but details on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program and the billions of dollars it could potentially release from sanctions and aid to help rebuild the Middle Eastern country remain murky.
The 60-day period will allow for final decisions on the status of highly enriched uranium, which US officials hope to assemble and leave in Iran, subject to the sanctions and liquidation.
But details of the initial deal have been withheld, allowing for competing narratives and raising concerns about what Trump got out of the nearly four-month-old war.
On Monday, Thune said “even people who follow these things closely don’t know much about it.”
A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he had read the agreement.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee and another member of the Gang of Eight, also has not been identified, a spokeswoman for his office said.
The deal will test Trump’s ability to maintain a diverse domestic coalition – after running for president three times condemning “warmists” and diplomatic efforts he saw as ineffective, including former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump says did little to coerce Tehran.
Trump lamented in 2017 that “Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the US came along and offered a lifeline in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion.”
The White House said the text of the agreement is 1.5 pages, but if it is not in this document, the lawmakers are becoming more and more careless.
“The sooner it is released, the better,” wrote arch hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at the X post on Monday night. “I look forward to reviewing the original text rather than relying on Iranian propaganda reports.”
Graham refrained from criticizing the deal when he called for it to be sent to the Senate for approval. He said that this document, which is yet to be seen, can transform the region and become a great success.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that “I’m going to send it to Congress” when asked about Graham’s comments.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), told reporters Tuesday that he had discussions with administration officials and that some Republicans are “hopeful that the end of this is no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles, no money for the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas.”
Administration officials told reporters that any sanctions or non-disbursements would be tied to Iran’s strict measures to end its nuclear program and end support for regional armed groups – while also teasing the money “ants” as a gesture of kindness.
“We would all like to see the terms of the memorandum and hopefully end up with a real deal,” Scott added.
“I don’t think anyone in Congress is going to support giving them money,” Scott said. “If we have more money, they should pay the cost of doing this to try to bring them to their senses and stop killing us.”
The Florida Republican said he would be “surprised” if Iran’s reconstruction plans included handing over $300 billion as part of the MOU.
Administration officials confirmed the $300 billion plan, but said it would not be funded by the US and would instead be a Gulf Arab initiative to invest in Iranian projects, subject to a US veto if progress stalls.
“What I want to do is I want the money we spent back, so they can come to their senses. I mean, they have a lot of fat,” said Scott. “They can rebuild their country.”
“I don’t think that will ever be a deal,” he added, suggesting it would be similar to Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran that gave the mullahs access to more than $50 billion in funds, including pallets of money from the US.
That won’t happen. They won’t be…
As elected Republicans await the text, the biggest critic is Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence.
“It is my opinion that we would be better off if we let the American military finish the job… [to] give the people of Iran a real chance for freedom,” he said Tuesday at the National Press Club.
