White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Republicans have shot themselves in the foot by blocking a nominee that could help the Obama administration impose tougher sanctions against Iran, all to spite President Obama.
Some in the GOP have been pushing the Obama administration to impose new sanctions against Iran for firing a ballistic missile in violation of a United Nations ban on those weapons. But Earnest said the GOP has stalled the nomination of Adam Szubin to be the next undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial crimes.
“One thing that they could do is they could actually confirm Adam Szubin, who is the financial expert at the Treasury Department who has been blocked for more than a year by Republicans, many of whom are complaining about Iran’s missile program,” Earnest said Tuesday.
“They’re actually preventing the confirmation of the individual who would be responsible for imposing the sanctions against Iran and their ballistic missile program,” he added.
“That is why it is inexcusable for Republicans to once again continue to block the nomination of somebody that even they admit is eminently qualified for the job,” Earnest said. “I think it’s an indication of just how petty their partisan agenda looks.”
A report leaked Tuesday said the United Nations does believe Iran is in violation of the U.N. ban, although Earnest decline to comment on those reports.
He did say, however, that the Obama administration would consider sanctions against Iran if they are deemed necessary, and said its hopes for Iran to implement the nuclear agreement would not be a factor in that decision.
“If our national security professionals, including our sanctions experts at the Treasury Department, determine that additional sanctions would be useful in countering Iran’s ballistic missile program, then I’m confident that the president wouldn’t stand in the way of the sanctions moving forward,” he said.
