Sen. Harry Reid (D – Nev.) announced his retirement today and backed Sen. Chuck Schumer (D – N.Y.) to succeed him as Senate Minority Leader. The news comes one day after Schumer signed as co-sponsor of a bill to require legislative review of any Iran nuclear deal agreed to by President Barack Obama.
The Hill reports:
Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) is endorsing New York Sen. Charles Schumer to succeed him as Democratic leader.
His backing cements Schumer’s status as the strong favorite to replace Reid and might quash a possible leadership race. …
Schumer’s aides and allies have long made clear that he would seek to replace Reid when he retired. They say he has broad support among his colleagues after helping to engineer the Democratic takeover of the Senate in 2006 and the filibuster-proof majority in 2008 during his stints as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
Senators Dick Durbin (D – Ill.) and Patty Murray (D – Wash.) were expected to have an interest in succeeding Reid, but Reid’s endorsement of Schumer gives the senator from New York an edge over his possible competition for the post.
On Thursday, Schumer announced that he would sign on to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, sponsored by Senators Bob Corker (R – Tenn.) and Robert Menendez (D – N.J.), as a co-sponsor.
The Algemeiner reported:
[The bill] stipulates that President Barack Obama must submit the text of a nuclear pact to Congress within five days of a deal being reached. The legislation also prohibits the president from suspending, waiving, or reducing Congressional sanctions against Iran for 60 days. Schumer had already publicly supported the Corker-Menendez oversight bill before officially announcing his cosponsorship on Thursday.
“We must do everything to prevent a nuclear Iran and so any potential agreement must prevent Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon,” Schumer said in a statement. “Congress played a lead role in crafting the tough-and-effective sanctions regime that brought Iran to the table, and Congress should have a role on how those sanctions are altered in any final agreement with Iran. That’s why I strongly support this legislation, which will give Congress the ability to weigh in on any potential Iran deal. This issue is far too important—for the United States, for Israel, for the entire Middle East—for Congress not to have any ability to review a nuclear deal with Iran.”
Also after the initial 60 day review period, the president would need to evaluate whether or not Iran was in compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal every 90 days.