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President Barack Obama’s Iran deal looks increasingly likely to survive a challenge from congressional Republicans after several swing Democrats said they would back the deal just as the Senate sped toward recess on Wednesday. Minutes after Senate leaders locked in an agreement to begin debating the nuclear deal on Sept. 8, Independent Maine Sen. Angus King came to the floor to announce his support for the agreement. King’s decision will make it hard for GOP opponents to block the lifting of legislative sanctions when the Senate votes no later than Sept. 17. Story Continued Below “This is the most difficult...

Senator Chuck Schumer has announced that he will vote against the Iran nuclear deal in a lengthy statement Thursday night. “Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed. This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval,” Schumer declared in a lengthy statement. “Those who argue for the agreement say it is better to have an imperfect deal than to have nothing; that...

John Kerry’s “don’t screw the Ayatollah” sales pitch has worked about as well as one might imagine today. One of the key figures for Kerry and Barack Obama to win on Congressional approval for the deal seems to care less about Ali Khameini’s trust in American good faith than in protecting American interests. Former DCCC chair Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) told Newsday that he will oppose the deal, despite a great deal of thought on how he might be able to support it: The highest-ranking Jewish Democrat in the House announced his opposition to the nuclear accord with Iran...

WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, the most influential Jewish voice in Congress, said Thursday night that he would oppose President Obama’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. “Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a lengthy statement. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.” Mr. Schumer had spent the last several weeks...

<p>Washington (CNN)New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, an influential Jewish Democrat who's poised to assume leadership of his party in the Senate, will oppose President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, he announced on Thursday evening.</p> <p>"After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval," Schumer wrote in a 1,600-word post on the website Medium.</p>

Charles Schumer was ready to discuss everything from gun control to drones during a press conference in his Midtown office Monday — except his position on the Iran nuclear deal. “This is such an important decision that I will not let pressure, politics or party influence [me],” Schumer said, holding fast to his weeks-long insistence that he’s still in the decision-making stage. ... “exploded” during a meeting last week with about 60 Jewish leaders.

Chuck Schumer is getting an earful from opponents of the Iran nuclear deal. More than 10,000 phone calls have flooded his office line the past two weeks, organized by a group looking to kill the deal. Another group has dropped seven figures on TV in New York City to pressure Schumer and other lawmakers to vote against the plan. The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee has put its muscle behind an effort to lobby the New Yorker against it. And Dov Hikind, a state assemblyman from Brooklyn, was arrested for disorderly conduct while protesting the deal outside Schumer’s office....

Stand-up comedian and actress Amy Schumer is teaming up with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer to call for tighter gun control. She will join the senator on Monday as he unveils a three-part plan that would make it harder for violent criminals and mentally ill to obtain guns. They cited the recent shooting in a Louisiana movie theater that killed two women and injured nine others during a screening of the movie "Trainwreck" starring Amy Schumer. Amy Schumer is the senator's cousin.

On Sunday, New York City’s AM 970 host John Catsimatidis had former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) on his “The Cats Roundtable” program to talk about the Iran nuclear deal. Lieberman started off by ripping the White House for its proposed Iran nuke deal by saying, “First, it’s a deal with somebody we can’t trust. Why? Because they have said for years and continue to say even after the agreement was signed, ‘Death to America.'”

How in touch is Senator Schumer with his constituents? Two days ago a number of Jewish protesters, most of them elderly, were arrested while protesting the nuclear deal with Iran and calling on Schumer to do the right thing. And Schumer ignored them. Instead his Twitter account showed him smirking side by side with champion smirker and opponent of Israel, Jon Stewart.   .@ComedyCentral will miss Jon; thanks for letting me crash tonight. @TheDailyShow #DailyShow pic.twitter.com/FmNWJo54vc — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 24, 2015 The contrast is unfortunately quite striking.   While his constituents were going to jail to protest...

How the senator from New York could change the game in Congress if he has the guts. In April 2010, following a series of deliberate slights and insults by the Obama administration directed at Israel and its prime minister, including a threat by the State Department that the depth of the US-Israel alliance would depend on the progress of peace talks, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s ranking Democrat and Obama ally placed a call to the White House. The senator had had just about enough. He informed White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in no uncertain terms that the...

the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act that Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) negotiated with Obama guarantees that the Republican Congress will give its stamp of approval to Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. Worse, it gives Democrats political cover by allowing them to vote against the Iran agreement without actually killing it – so they can say they opposed this disastrous deal without actually delivering an embarrassing defeat to their president. Instead of requiring that Congress vote to affirmatively approve the Obama-Iran agreement before it can take effect, Congressional Republicans agreed to move forward with a “resolution of disapproval” – which allows...

Senate Republicans concede they are not likely to have enough votes to overturn President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran unless they can swing a key Democratic voice against the accord. They’re setting their sights on Hillary Clinton, vowing to tie her to the deal in hopes of pressuring her to oppose it. GOP leaders need 67 votes to override Obama’s expected veto and keep sanctions on Iran in place. The administration has not yet announced an accord but lawmakers expect it to come soon. “It could be a good policy strategy. It’s not going to be hard to come up...

New York Sen. Charles Schumer (D.) wrote letters to Amazon and eBay urging them and other online retailers to stop selling gun-grip iPhone cases on their platforms. Schumer argues that the case “creates danger when seen in kids’ pockets” and likely breaks federal law, according to press release posted to his website Tuesday.Versions of the cases available online come in multiple colors and feature imitation trigger guards, grips, and barrels. The particular “Gun Grip Case” cited by Schumer resembles a 9mm handgun and features an imitation trigger guard and grip. “Any retailer willing to sell this potentially dangerous and tasteless...

A top GOP strategist and pollster for newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that New York Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, "will pay a heavy price" at the polls next year if they don't break with President Obama's policies on Israel and reject any deal he makes with Iran. "Hillary Clinton, [Sen.] Chuck Schumer, [Reps.] Nita Lowey, Steve Israel, Jerry Nadler, Eliot Engel and others are about to get a whole new wave of pressure from Republicans on whether they agree or not with Obama on Israel," New York-based national GOP pollster and strategist John McLaughlin told The Post....

Sen. Chuck Schumer outlined a path Tuesday for Hillary Clinton to enact a carbon tax if the Democrats prevail in the 2016 elections. Schumer said that a Clinton presidency and the return of his party to the Senate majority in 2017 could pave the way for lawmakers to enact a carbon tax to help fund the government. The mere suggestion of a new fee on the emissions blamed for climate change, however, could become a political headache for Clinton and other Democrats, and it’s routinely dismissed by Republicans. Schumer also vowed that Democrats would successfully defend President Barack Obama’s landmark...

Yesterday, led by Alabama’s principled limited constitutional conservative Senator Jeff Sessions, a small band of the Senate’s “populist conservative” Republicans joined with Democrats to, temporarily at least, derail the “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority bill (TPA) now working its way through Congress. The TPA bill is backed by a strange alliance of Big Business, establishment Republicans and, wait for it – Barack Obama. Only one Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper, voted for the bill. The Wall Street Journal attacked conservatives opposing the bill as “No-Growth Republicans,” but the clear winner in the battle so far has been Senator Sessions, who has...

In response to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent remarks and reelection, a senior Obama administration official tells Politico that the United States may withdraw support of Israel at the United Nations. According to Politico's Michael Crowley, "the official wouldn’t rule out a modified American posture at the United Nations, where the U.S. has long fended off resolutions criticizing Israeli settlement activity and demanding its withdrawal from Palestinian territories." “We are signaling that if the Israeli government’s position is no longer to pursue a Palestinian state, we’re going to have to broaden the spectrum of options we pursue going forward,”...

Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Senate’s No. 3 ranking Democrat, is turning to the head of the Catholic Church for a little help with policy. “If they won’t listen to @SenateDems maybe they’ll listen to @Pontifex when it comes to #equalpay #FairShot,” Mr. Schumer tweeted Wednesday. Schumer also linked to an article from The Washington Post in which Pope Francis said Wednesday the fact that a pay disparity exists between men and women is “pure scandal.”

Rubio’s right that this is a hypothetical and that nothing like the Gang of Eight bill could pass the House right now. But Mickey Kaus is right that it’s a darned fine gotcha, a way to gauge how far Rubio’s willing to go in renouncing his signature “achievement” as a senator. What if Rubio defeated Hillary next year and the party’s leadership decided to capitalize by doing something splashy to show Latino voters that the new, Rubio-led GOP was ready to engage them like never before? A bill like the Gang of Eight bill getting past the House isn’t...