A majority of the US House of Representatives has signed on as co-sponsors to a bill that denounces the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.
Rep. Peter Roskam on Monday said 218 Republicans have signed on to his legislation, the Hill reported.
The level of support suggests a majority of the House would also vote on a formal measure to disapprove of the Iran nuclear accord.
That is not a big surprise given near-uniform Republican opposition to the deal. The White House is focused on winning support from Democrats so that it can sustain an expected Obama veto of a disapproval measure. It would take two-thirds majority votes in the House and Senate to override Obama's veto.
The deal would lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limits on its nuclear program for specified durations.
Under the review process signed into law by President Barack Obama, Congress could pass a measure of approval or disapproval of the deal.
Roskam is the co-chairman of the House Republican Israel Caucus.
"Congress and the American people believe a better agreement is still achievable, and we can start by walking away from this one," he said in a statement. "This is why a majority of the House is prepared to vote against this deal. We will do everything in our power to stop an accord that so utterly fails to shut down Iran's nuclear program."
Although many Democrats are still making a decision on whether they support the deal, Roskam said the more members reviewed the deal, the more they disagreed with it.
"Time is not the friend of this deal," he wrote. "The more time members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it's an historic mistake."
Roskam disputed the administration's argument that the choice was between the deal or war, citing Secretary of State John Kerry's threats to walk away from the deal if it was a bad deal.
"If that was the case, then surely there was an alternative besides this dangerous agreement and war," he said.
Mixed Polls
Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac University poll showed a majority of Americans opposes the pact.
Nearly six in 10 Americans, or 57%, oppose the nuclear deal, while 28% voice support for it in the national poll released on Monday.
Republicans strongly oppose the deal, 86 to 3%, while Democrats support the top second-term foreign policy agenda item for Obama, 52 to 32%.
A majority of Americans disapprove the way Obama is handling the situation in Iran (56%), compared with 35% who approve.
An ABC/Washington Post poll out July 20 found that 56% support the deal and 37% oppose it, while a Pew Research Center poll released the following day found that a plurality of Americans familiar with the deal oppose it, 48 to 38%.
Another CNN/ORC International Poll released late last month found that 52% of Americans say Congress should reject the deal, compared to 44% who said it should be approved.
The latest survey from Quinnipiac was commissioned amid testimony on Capitol Hill from Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in favor of the deal.
The survey of 1,644 registered US voters was conducted July 23-28 via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of 2.4 points.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll also found the American public is evenly divided over the Iran agreement, with a third supporting the deal, a third opposing it and a third saying they do not know enough to say. In June, the Journal/NBC News found about the same level of support for a potential deal, but just 17% opposed it.
