{"id":501577,"date":"2026-06-19T22:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501577\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T22:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:18:07","slug":"does-trump-have-to-submit-the-iran-memorandum-of-understanding-to-congress-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501577\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Trump have to submit the Iran memorandum of understanding to Congress? | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers and pro-Israel groups have issued calls<\/a> for United States President Donald Trump to ask Congress to review a recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to end the US-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n

They cite the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) as a precedent. Passed in 2015, the law says any agreements with Iran related to its nuclear programme must be submitted to Congress for review and a possible vote of disapproval.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

The act came into effect when former US President Barack Obama was negotiating the now-defunct Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA<\/a>) with Iran, and it remains on the books today.<\/p>\n

US Senator Lindsey Graham was among the first lawmakers to invoke the act after this week\u2019s memo was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote. I look forward to reviewing the final product,\u201d Graham, a longtime Iran hawk, wrote in a social media post on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Critics, including some Democrats and pro-peace groups, have questioned the newfound interest in Congress asserting its powers, after Republicans repeatedly flouted the legislature\u2019s authority during the war itself.<\/p>\n

Some see the push as an effort to give the memorandum greater legitimacy, as Trump comes under fire for its terms. Others question whether Iran hawks are invoking INARA to push for a return to war.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about the debate:<\/p>\n

What does the law say?<\/p>\n

INARA creates requirements for any agreement between the US and Iran \u201crelated to the nuclear program of Iran\u201d, no matter \u201cthe form it takes\u201d or whether the agreement is legally binding.<\/p>\n

Ahead of its passage in 2015, it was championed<\/a> by bipartisan opponents of the JCPOA. That deal, which saw Tehran curtail its nuclear programme and submit to regular inspections in exchange for sanctions relief, was subsequently subject to provisions of the law.<\/p>\n

The law requires the president to submit the text of any agreement he strikes with Iran to Congress within five days, along with any related materials. That triggers a 30-day approval period.<\/p>\n

During that period, members of Congress can choose to pass a joint resolution of disapproval to scuttle the deal.<\/p>\n

Still, such a resolution would be subject to the presidential veto. A successful disapproval resolution would therefore require a two-third majority from both chambers to override any vetoes, an extremely high bar.<\/p>\n

During the congressional review period, the president \u201cmay not waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of statutory sanctions with respect to Iran under any provision of law or refrain from applying any such sanctions pursuant to [the] agreement\u201d, the law states.<\/p>\n

Those terms could limit this week\u2019s memorandum, as it includes sanctions relief for Iran.<\/p>\n

Does INARA apply to the memorandum of understanding?<\/p>\n

Trump has suggested he was open to sending the US-Iran memorandum to Congress, telling reporters earlier this week: \u201cI like the idea. I mean, who wouldn\u2019t approve it?\u201d<\/p>\n

But his administration has not yet done so. Administration officials have also not articulated a stance on whether or not they believes the memo is subject to the law. Trump, after all, has frequently denied needing congressional approval for his actions against Iran.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s memorandum opens the Strait of Hormuz, lifts the US blockade on Iran\u2019s ports, and halts fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

It also immediately lifts US sanctions on Iran\u2019s fossil fuel industry, while launching negotiations on the future of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, among other issues.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, both countries agree to maintain their nuclear \u201cstatus quo\u201d during ongoing negotiations, and Iran commits to diluting its highly enriched uranium \u201con site\u201d, with details to be determined during the negotiations.<\/p>\n

While Trump has yet to acknowledge INARA\u2019s authority, legal experts from across the ideological spectrum have argued that his memorandum is subject to the law.<\/p>\n

Tess Bridgeman, a legal adviser for the Obama White House, wrote that the law applies to \u201cthis new MoU, and any future final agreement that might be negotiated in the coming months\u201d.<\/p>\n

But in an article published in the policy forum Just Security, she argues that INARA should be repealed, so\u00a0as to not impede the ongoing diplomacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cINARA was never an appropriate way for Congress to engage on Iran\u2019s nuclear program, and that is even more true today,\u201d Bridgeman wrote.<\/p>\n

Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, also believes that the memorandum should trigger an INARA review.<\/p>\n

He also notes that Trump\u2019s commitment to \u201cimmediately\u201d lift sanctions on Iran\u2019s oil industry appears to run afoul of INARA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the president has the authority under domestic law to issue these waivers,\u201d Goldsmith wrote on the Executive Functions website.<\/p>\n

Still, he anticipates that neither Congress nor the judicial branch will confront Trump over the issue.<\/p>\n

Will Trump comply with the law?<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s second term has been defined by a broad interpretation of presidential power.<\/p>\n

His administration has previously flouted the US Constitution\u2019s provision that Congress alone has the power to declare war.<\/p>\n

Trump has maintained that Iran represented an \u201cimminent threat\u201d to the US, which allowed him to launch defensive strikes without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

Administration officials have also argued that the president is not beholden to the legal requirement that he gain congressional approval within 60 days of launching an attack. The war, which started on February 28, has lasted nearly three and a half months.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the news outlet Axios on Thursday, Trump mused that the war taught him there are \u201cno limits\u201d to his power as president.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear if Trump will change course and embrace the congressional collaboration required for diplomacy under INARA.<\/p>\n

In her article, Bridgeman argued that Trump could flout the law in whole or in part, particularly when it comes to the immediate sanctions relief, because his party controls Congress.<\/p>\n

Goldsmith, meanwhile, pointed out that the administration could also try to argue that the memorandum only sets out terms to reach an eventual agreement and is not an agreement itself.<\/p>\n

While Goldsmith believes that argument is\u00a0faulty, he noted that \u201cit\u2019s doubtful that any institution will make the president comply with INARA\u201d.<\/p>\n

A newfound interest in congressional oversight?<\/p>\n

Several pro-Israel groups, including The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), have been among the loudest voices calling for congressional involvement in the deal.<\/p>\n

Since the outset of the war, JINSA defended Trump\u2019s claims that Iran represented an \u201cimminent threat\u201d to the US, thereby granting him authority to attack without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

However, the group also called on Congress to pass an Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) to bolster his actions.<\/p>\n

Congress, however, has repeatedly sought and failed to re-assert over its authority to send the US to war.<\/p>\n

Since February, several war powers resolutions have been introduced to halt US action against Iran and force Trump to engage with Congress.<\/p>\n

Initially, several Democrats backed by AIPAC, including Senator John Fetterman, Representative Jared Moskowitz and Representative Josh Gottheimer, broke from the party to oppose those efforts.<\/p>\n

Moskowitz and Gottheimer eventually shifted their stances in March to vote in favour of one of the resolutions. But Congress has yet to pass a bill with enough votes to overcome an eventual Trump veto.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Republicans in both the House and Senate chose to ignore<\/a> a 60-day deadline in May that legally required Trump to get congressional approval for continued military operations \u2014 or stop fighting.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen characterised the Republican embrace of INARA as evidence of hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublican senators who were AWOL [absent without leave] regarding their constitutional duties around STARTING the war against Iran all of a sudden demand that Congress play a role in STOPPING the war,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cA whole lot of warmongering going on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawmakers and pro-Israel groups have issued calls for United States President Donald Trump to ask Congress to review…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,234,42,87,46,47,43,238,40,38,41,39,1032,1156,162198],"class_list":["post-501577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}