Skip to content

Kerry, Lugar Huddle With Biden on START

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and ranking member Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) met Tuesday afternoon with Vice President Joseph Biden to discuss the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Democratic sources confirmed.

Kerry was seen rushing out the door of the Capitol to the White House shortly after the Senate lunches. The meeting was not on Biden’s schedule.

Kerry is aiming to pass the nuclear arms treaty, struck with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, out of his committee before the August recess, a plan that could lead to a bitter partisan floor battle over its ratification. Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and other GOP colleagues have threatened to sink START over broader concerns about President Barack Obama’s nuclear weapons policy. But Kyl has been in negotiations with Biden to try to break the impasse.

Recent Stories

CBO finds health agency cuts would result in fewer new drugs

Judge tosses lawsuit regarding FBI agents’ identity

Summer cram session — Congressional Hits and Misses

Former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr. dies at age 94

Photos of the week | July 11-17, 2025

House sends $9 billion rescissions package to president’s desk