The United States and other P5+1 partners are close to a political deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons program, though the details may not be hammered out until the end of June, Sen. Bob Corker said Sunday on
"Face the Nation."
The Tennessee Republican said he spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden late last week and was told a political deal is near.
But he reiterated concerns that Congress is being left out of the process, especially since, he said, it was congressional sanctions that helped bring Iran to the negotiating table in the first place.
President Barack Obama's administration has been criticized even by Democrats for leaving Congress out of the loop on the deal, and tensions came to a head earlier this month when
47 Republican senators signed an open letter to Iran's leaders warning that a deal signed by the White House wasn't worth the paper it was written on without congressional approval.
Corker was not among the signatories of that letter, and he told host Bob Schieffer that people on all sides in Washington have not always acted properly.
But he said the White House's "unprecedented" actions are responsible for creating the atmosphere that inspired the letter in the first place.
"I wake up every day trying to do everything I can to move foreign policy ahead, to work with everyone, Corker said, "and I've never seen such resistance by an administration towards a responsible role for Congress. I think that is obviously created some of the drama that you're referring to right now."
There is a concern in Congress that Obama "cares more about making a deal versus the right deal," Corker said.
Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer support congressional approval of a deal which has strong bipartisan support, he added.
"Before anything is implemented, Congress should at least be able to … say grace up or down as to whether or not we think those sanctions ought to be removed," Corker said.
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