OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:31 AM – Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Republican lawmakers have several questions about the deal President Donald Trump inked with Iran to end the months-long conflict in the Middle East.
Trump announced on Monday that a final deal was electronically signed, though his supporters on Capitol Hill have not yet seen the text of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), leading some to question how the agreement will handle issues such as Iran’s nuclear program.
“The MOU, I want to see it myself. The way Iran describes it is awful. The way we describe it makes sense to me. Let’s look at it and see what it actually is,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Senate candidate endorsed by Trump, according to The Hill.
Graham added that it could take “a couple of months” to determine if Iran will comply with enforcement provisions to prevent it from secretly continuing to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. He maintained that the nuclear threat still exists within Iran’s Islamic regime, despite the United States’ strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in 2025 and this year.
“Their nuclear ambitions still exist. How do you rein it in?” he said.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he was “withholding comment” on the recent development after previously criticizing the progress of the ceasefire deal negotiations.
“The rumored 60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster,” Wicker wrote on X back in May.
Asked if Trump’s deal was a good one, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters on Monday, “I don’t know enough about it to say.”
He added that he hoped senators would learn more details about the agreement before U.S. and Iranian officials meet in Geneva to sign it in person, per The Hill.
“My understanding of what it entails — again, not having seen anything — I think the issues are going to be compliance and, ‘How you’re going to enforce that and what are the financial incentives the Iranians are going to have from our country?’” Thune said, emphasizing that the deal’s support from GOP senators would hinge on whether it was viewed as enforceable.
“We need to see the MOU,” said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has opposed a nuclear weapon for Iran.
Though Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) says he’s “hopeful” Trump has negotiated a strong deal, he also clarified, “I want to read it myself.”
“The next 60 days or whatever the allotted time is to negotiate the final document is going to be very important,” he said. “It’s just very difficult if not impossible to trust the Iranian government. They lie.”
Some Republicans agreed that Congress needed to see the MOU and that it would be subject to a congressional vote if it were to be made permanent.
“If you want a deal to last, it can’t be an executive agreement,” said Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.). “We’ve got to have a vote of Congress to be able to solidify [it] long term.”
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has repeatedly voted with Democrats for Trump to withdraw troops from Iran, praised the deal so far.
“I’m in favor of trying to end the war and I think negotiations is the way it will end. I think it’s a good idea to get the Strait of Hormuz open as soon as possible. It appears to me the trade has been: We stop blockading them and they stop blockading us. So I think that’s a good idea,” he said.
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