CRUNCH TIME – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes up the Corker-Menendez bill, which would give Congress a say, by law, in the Iran nuclear deal.  There is intense negotiating going on behind the scenes.  From Fox: 

How much say Congress has on a possible nuclear deal with Iran will be tested Tuesday as a controversial bill goes up for a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

The Obama administration has been very critical of legislation that would give Congress a final say in approving or rejecting a deal.

In an interview with The New York Times, Obama said the newly agreed on framework of a nuclear deal with Iran represents a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon and to move toward stabilizing the Middle East.

On Monday, the administration stepped up its lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill.

"The way the legislation is currently written is something that we strongly oppose," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "But, again, we continue to have extensive conversations with members of Congress on Capitol Hill."

Secretary of State John Kerry postponed a foreign trip to meet with members of the House to discuss the negotiations. Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and senior officials in the intelligence community were holding classified briefings Monday and Tuesday with members of the House and Senate.

Earnest said some Republicans are "rigidly partisan" and will reject any deal just because Obama supports it. He said that while there is some Democratic opposition, administration officials will continue to talk with members of his party. So far, the president and other senior administration officials have made more than 130 telephone calls to members of Congress to discuss the negotiations.

COMMENT:  Some news sources say that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are moving toward agreement on the final shape of the bill, but I'm skeptical that Democrats will provide the votes to override a presidential veto.   You can hear the question that the Democratic establishment will put to them:  "Do you want to humiliate the first black president?"  That's the way the game is played.  You'd never know we're dealing with an issue that could affect the very survival of millions of people.

Now comes crunch time. 

April 14,  2015