LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump has said he expects the Iran war will be moving into the rearview mirror, but will it be moving? In a few minutes, we'll hear from Senate Democrat Tim Kaine on what role lawmakers may play in any deal hatched between the U.S. and Iran. But first, we hear how Republicans are talking about this now from NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Even as President Trump claims to have a deal with Iran, there's not a lot of details, and that has members of Trump's own party worried.
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BILL CASSIDY: To make a deal, it takes two sides. In this case, maybe three, maybe four.
JOHN CORNYN: I need to see the print. But I don't believe the regime will abide by it.
THOM TILLIS: I think it's generous to call it a deal.
GRISALES: That's retiring Republican senators Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. So far, Trump has said an agreement to be signed Friday will extend a ceasefire to 60 days to reach a final deal. Members like Tillis need to see more.
TILLIS: You know, we've been here before. We've been in ceasefires. So let's get to a lasting ceasefire and then a measurable agreement.
GRISALES: The plan could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, address Iran's nuclear program, as well as billions of dollars in the country's frozen assets, and lift U.S. and international sanctions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune argues the administration has achieved something that hasn't been done in 50 years.
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JOHN THUNE: To get Iran in a place where they don't represent an existential threat to the neighborhood - or to the world, for that matter.
GRISALES: Republicans greeted the news of an agreement with relief. They want to get the unpopular war and its domestic fallout, such as higher gasoline prices, behind them. But Thune also says Republican lawmakers need more to go on.
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THUNE: I think we're all hoping to get more information.
GRISALES: On Wednesday, Democrats forced another vote to end the war to get their GOP colleagues on the record. That vote failed, but in speeches on the Senate floor, Democrats, like Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, repeated a criticism of the war that could become a campaign message this year.
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TAMMY BALDWIN: And no evidence that Americans are better off today than they were before this all started.
GRISALES: Even as questions that have dogged this war may finally get their answers, some Republicans worry it may not be enough to turn a tide of discontent for voters this November.
Claudia Grisales, NPR News, the Capitol. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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