State Dept.: GOP claims that Congress can amend Iran nuke deal 'not accurate with how our Constitution works

The State Department said Monday that Congress does not have the power to alter any Iran nuclear agreement that the Obama administration might reach, and said a Republican letter to Iran suggesting otherwise is "incorrect."

"Congress doesn't have the power to alter the terms of international arrangements negotiated by the executive," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "The letter is incorrect when it says that Congress could modify the terms of the agreement at any time."

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Congress won't have the authority to change the emerging Iran nuclear agreement, despite a GOP letter insisting it can tweak the deal. Image: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

"The letter implying that Congress could modify the terms of the agreement at any time is just not accurate with how our Constitution works," she added.

Psasi was referring to a letter from 47 Republican senators, who warned Iran that any deal reached would either have to go through Congress or could be changed later by a new president or the Congress "at any time." That letter called agreements that don't need congressional approval "mere" executive agreements.

Republican senators appeared to be trying to warn both Iran and the Obama administration to reach a tough deal that forces Iran to dismantle its nuclear capacity.

Both sides are correct as far as they go. Psaki is right that agreements negotiated solely by the executive branch don't need congressional approval, and she noted that the agreement being discussed is not a treaty that the administration will submit to the Senate. But Senate Republicans are also correct that these agreements could be tweaked later in various ways.

More immediately, several Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have proposed legislation that would require Congress to review any agreement reached by the Obama administration. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) has said he hopes to win a veto-proof majority in the Senate, which would force the idea to become law over objections from the White House.

But that bill isn't going anywhere just yet. Last week, Senate Democrats objected to a GOP effort to slowly start work on that bill, and have said they don't want to consider any vote on Iran legislation until after this month's deadline expires for a framework agreement.