Skeptical Republicans in Congress arent backing Trump on Iran deal before reading text

WASHINGTON — Skeptical congressional Republicans aren’t rushing to support President Trump’s still-secret Iran deal as they wait to read the document, which has not been shared with even the highest-ranking lawmakers.“Unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker, no one’s confident that Iran is going to do anything,” Sen.John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters, after saying, “I want to read it myself.”Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) — a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, which is typically looped in on high-stakes national security matters — revealed Tuesday that he still hasn’t been briefed.“There isn’t text out there yet,” Thune told reporters of the deal, which was signed privately on Sunday by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.“We will get briefed when there’s text available,” said Thune, who may ultimately be called upon to push the deal through the Senate, which has a constitutional role in approving treaties.

Thune revealed he’s received no guidance from the White House on when the cloud of uncertainty may lift — as Trump and his senior aides give conflicting timetables for public disclosure of the terms.“My assumption is that [the briefing will happen] as the week wears on and we get closer to whenever the public release of this is gonna happen,” he said.The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls for 60 days, but details about the future of Tehran’s nuclear program and potentially billions of dollars in sanctions relief and funding to help reconstruct the Middle East country remain hazy.The 60-day period will allow for final determinations on the status of deeply buried highly enriched uranium, which US officials hope to down-blend and leave in Iran, in conjunction with sanctions relied and the unfreezing of funds.But the details of the preliminary deal have been withheld, allowing for competing nar...