Congress
CongressThinkstock

The United States House of Representatives on Friday rejected the nuclear accord with Iran, though the move is a symbolic one that will have no consequence for the implementation of the deal.

Taking a different approach from the Senate, where Democrats on Thursday paved the way for the nuclear deal to move forward by filibustering a disapproval resolution, the House instead voted on a resolution to approve the agreement, according to a report in the Guardian.

The resolution failed 162-269, with not a single Republican voting in favor and 25 Democrats joining them.

The measure was expected to fail, given Republicans who control the chamber have been uniformly against the deal that was negotiated between Iran and six world powers. House Republican leaders decided to pursue the approval resolution as a way to effectively force Democrats who had voiced support for the president to formally register such endorsement.

The fate of the deal had already been sealed by the Senate, where 42 Democrats rallied behind Obama earlier this week. When conservatives revolted in protest, Republican leaders in the House abandoned plans to vote on a similar disapproval resolution,” according to the Guardian.

That prompted the House speaker, John Boehner, to hold two additional votes: one to state that the Obama administration had failed to meet the requirements of a congressional review period on the deal, by not disclosing to lawmakers details of so-called “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and another that would prevent the U.S. from lifting sanctions on Tehran.

The White House has rejected the notion that any such “secret” side deals exist, saying instead that bilateral pacts require Iran to report on its prior military related nuclear activity to the IAEA in order to receive sanctions relief.

The measure blocking the lifting of sanctions passed 246-186 on a party line vote, with just two Democrats joining 244 Republicans in voting for it.

The Guardian noted, however, that the motion remains unlikely to even reach Obama’s desk – to do so, Republican leaders in the Senate will have to bring it up for a vote. Democrats would be all but certain to filibuster.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)