Special to WorldTribune.com

The UN Security Council endorsed the Iran nuclear deal on July 20 as members of the U.S. Congress from both parties seethed over the Obama administration prompting the UN vote before Congress had its say.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, said the move was “highly problematic” and called it “an affront to the American people” and to Congress.

“The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a bill which 98 Senators and 400 Representatives supported and you signed, established a 60-day period for Congress to consider the nuclear agreement.

“We are deeply concerned that your administration plans to enable the United Nations Security Council to vote on the agreement before the United States Congress can do the same,” Corker and Sen. Ben Cardin, Maryland Democrat, wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama.

“I think it is somewhat presumptuous to take it to the UN for a vote before the Congressional review is over,” Cardin said. “That’s why I think it would be better for them not to do it that way.”

Secretary of State John Kerry downplayed the bipartisan criticism, saying the UN had the right to go first and to suggest otherwise was “presumptuous.”

“Honestly, it’s presumptuous of some people to suspect that France, China, Russia, Germany, Britain ought to do what the Congress tells them to do. They have a right to have a vote,” Kerry said.

The administration’s maneuver has gotten a muted U.S. media reaction overall.

But in an editorial Monday, the Washington Examiner criticized the Administration’s decision to end-run the Congress: “Instead of bringing the Iran deal home to Washington for approval by Americans’ elected representatives — even under a process that is heavily skewed in his favor — Obama has instead committed to take it to the United Nations Security Council first, where its approval is assured, thus making it international law. Thus, instead of presenting the United Nations with an agreement that American elected officials have united behind, Obama will instead present a fait accompli to a Congress that had no say before the United Nations made it binding.”

  Rush job: Kerry argues UN had ‘right’ to vote on Iran nuke deal before Congress, Sen. Ben Cardin, Sen. Bob Corker, WorldTribune.com