House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that President Obama has been “consistently wrong” on foreign policy, suggesting the same applied to Obama’s analysis of Iran’s nuclear program.
McCarthy highlighted times where Obama has played down threats coming out of the Middle East and prematurely touted U.S. progress, mentioning al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Yemen.
“I believe the administration has misinterpreted the entire Arab Spring,” McCarthy added.
“And now he wants to trust us on getting a deal with Iran not able to obtain a nuclear weapon,” McCarthy said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Republicans are ramping up their rhetoric against the Obama administration as it moves to secure a preliminary deal on Iran’s nuclear program by the end of the month.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate plans to mark up a bill early next month, assuming the administration can’t secure a deal by March 31, that would allow Congress to have input on any deal reached with Iran.
Asked Sunday if the House would also vote on the legislation, McCarthy responded, “as the House, you have some responsibility.”
Echoing remarks on the same program from the Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is pushing the legislation, McCarthy noted, “the House was one of the individuals that passed the sanctions that brought Iran to the table.”
McCarthy said the House ought to review any push to lift sanctions on Iran or impose stricter ones.