Like the previous attempt last week, the second effort also fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster, as the 42 Democratic senators who originally supported the nuclear pact did not break ranks. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Wednesday that he's still locking down votes on a controversial amendment to a resolution on the Iran deal ahead of Thursday's vote. Republicans point to polls showing Americans don't like the Iran deal.

Though the measure is unlikely to advance, Republicans are staging the Senate vote to make political points against Democrats and in future Senate races. Senate Republican leaders have hinted there could be more votes this week before the Thursday deadline for congressional action against the deal. The visit comes after sharp clashes between the Israeli prime minister and Obama and other administration officials over the Iran deal and the dangers Iran could pose to Israel and other USA allies once sanctions are lifted on Tehran. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has also previously threatened to sue Obama on the grounds that the president had failed to turn over the full Iran agreement for Congress to review.

Both chambers launched their operations in 1789 requiring majority votes, but the Senate reconsidered this rule after Vice President Aaron Burr criticized the Senate's neglect of debating issues. Furthermore, the relationship is expected to improve significantly - regardless of the nuclear deal - when Obama's time in office ends in just over a year and a new president enters the White House. "It gives us a chance to go back to the American people, better explain this deal for them to contact their representatives and their senators and basically say don't support this". For the rest of us, well, we'll have to live with the legacy - which may include $150 billion in Iranian assets suddenly released to fund global terror and a healthy dose of off-the-books funding for their nuclear program. Israel could prove to be a help or hindrance to Obama in keeping the deal on track, ratcheting up domestic pressure on the White House should Iran stall or falter on implementation. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, used a Monday op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail to call the Democratic block of the vote on the resolution "extremely disappointing". President Barack Obama's big policy win this week - preventing Congress from blocking the nuclear agreement with Iran - may do little to improve his sagging approval ratings. "Whether or not Iran should have a nuclear weapon and the answer was resoundingly no", Reid said. Only the USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia will continue with sanctions, and these will have virtually no effect on Iran.

By NYS Sepost