State governments can kill the nuclear deal the Obama administration has reached with Tehran because of a 2008 Supreme Court decision in a case argued by then-Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz.
The justices ruled in that the Constitution bars states from being forced to comply with international treaties unless Congress has passed statutes giving them effect,
Breitbart News reports.
In other words, states cannot be required to implement an international treaty or agreement that requires new laws from Congress in order to be implemented.
Congress has 60 days to review the deal President Barack Obama announced last week with Iran. He has yet to submit the complete deal to legislators to begin the period. Congress can approve or reject the deal, but cannot amend it.
Many Republicans and some Democrats have strongly opposed the deal, with
GOP House Speaker John Boehner vowing "to do everything possible to stop it."
Obama incensed lawmakers this week by submitting the accord to the United Nations Security Council for approval, which the organization backed. The move would bring billions of dollars into Tehran from international economic sanctions that would be lifted.
According to Breitbart, many
states have laws prohibiting taxpayer money being used for doing business with Iran — or from supporting companies doing so.
Thirty states bar investment in Tehran, while nearly a dozen have contracting restrictions and many others have other "supplemental legislation" — including a 2012 California law regarding the state's insurance industry, the report said.
Many liberal states, including New York, have some of the toughest restrictions — a "blacklist" of those "determined to be engaged in investment activities in Iran," for instance — and the U.N. move would remove some companies from the list, Breitbart reports.
The state restrictions, however, would remain in place.
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