Possible deal on Iran divides US lawmakers largely along party lines

Published May 24, 2026 Updated May 24, 2026 10:10pm

US lawmakers appearing on Sunday morning talk shows have split sharply over a potential deal to end the Iran war, with Republicans mostly backing the publicly reported contours of an agreement being negotiated by President Donald Trump and Democrats dismissing it as accomplishing little, Reuters reports.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the reported outlines of a deal sounded like little more than “the pre-war status quo” with Iran.

“I think this was a blunder,” Van Hollen said on the “Fox News Sunday” program.

“When you’re digging a hole, you should stop digging, and that sounds like maybe what we’re doing finally.”

Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised Trump’s approach to talks with Iran.

Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said Trump was being “played as a fool” in negotiations. “He’s got us in a situation that’s worse than it was before, a more extreme regime,” Booker told CNN’s “State of the Union” show.