Senate 'Just Rewrote' Constitution to Give BO More Power -'Now We Need A Supermajority to Override the President'

Bob Unruh / WND

The bill that would enable Congress to review any nuclear deal with Iran is coming under fire for allegedly altering the Constitution’s requirements for treaties.

One prominent talk-radio host even is accusing the U.S. Senate of rewriting the Constitution to allow approval of a treaty with only one-third of the Senate, plus one.

WND has reported the Obama administration has been fighting any attempt by Congress to take oversight of an agreement with Iran’s rogue regime. But Obama reluctantly agreed to a proposal in the Senate that will be voted on in coming weeks.

The New York Times reported “the essence of the legislation is that Congress will have a chance to vote on whatever deal emerges with Iran — if one is reached by June 30.”

But the newspaper noted it would be reviewed “in a way that would be extremely difficult for Mr. Obama to lose.”

The report explained Congress “would essentially be able to vote on an eventual end to sanctions, and then later take up the issue depending on whether Iran has met its own obligations. But if it rejected the agreement, Mr. Obama could veto that legislation – and it would take only 34 senators to sustain the veto, meaning that Mr. Obama could lose upward of a dozen Democratic senators and still prevail.”

Talk-show host Mark Levin erupted.

“The United States Senate just rewrote the treaty provision of the Constitution,” he exclaimed. “This may be over the heads of most commentators … but it’s not over my head, and it won’t be over yours.”

He said under the Constitution, the president has the power to negotiate treaties, and they are approved “provided two-thirds of the senators present concur.”

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He said such a supermajority (67 votes) was called for by the nation’s Founders because they believed that leaving such decisions to a single person or a single body wasn’t responsible.

“Alexander Hamilton tells us” that joint possession of such power provides the greater prospect of success, he said.

Under the proposed legislation, Congress can review the president’s deal with the radical Islamists and can reject it with a 60-vote margin. But Obama then can veto it, and it would take a 67-vote total to overturn the veto.

“We’ve turned the treaty provision on its head,” Levin said. “Instead of requiring two-thirds of the senators present to approve, this bill explicitly” demands 67 votes to stop the president.

“You need 67 votes to override a presidential veto to undo what Obama’s done,” he said. “Now we need a supermajority to override the president rather than a supermajority where the president needs approval for a treaty.”

Read more at WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/senate-just-rewrote-the-constitution/