Senators Cruz, Graham urge Trump to submit Iran nuclear and Paris climate deals to Senate before Biden takes office

Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham have reportedly advised President Trump to submit the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement to the Senate for ratification, in an attempt to block President-elect Biden from re-entering the deals once he takes office.

In a letter obtained by RealClearPolitics, Cruz urges the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to submit the accords to the Senate before Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

“Your administration has rightly changed course as a matter of substantive policy by withdrawing from both the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement. This was a great accomplishment for the American people,” Cruz wrote in the letter.

“I urge you now also to remedy the harm done to the balance of powers by submitting the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement to the Senate as treaties,” he continued. “Only by so doing will the Senate be able to satisfy its constitutional role to provide advice and consent in the event any future administration attempts to revive these dangerous deals.”

A senior congressional aide told RCP that submitting the accords to fail in the Senate “would be the final nail in the coffin.”

Trump pulled out of both agreements that were negotiated under former President Barack Obama, but Biden has said he plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office while working to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

In a series of tweets last week, Graham said that rejoining the Iran nuclear deal would be “the most destructive decision a Biden administration could make regarding stability in the Middle East.”

He added, “The Senate should go on the record about whether it would support or oppose this decision. Also believe Senate should be on record in support or opposition to any decision to reenter Paris climate accord.”