Updated 3:30 p.m. | President Barack Obama has been criticized repeatedly by his detractors for a perceived reluctance to work with Congress, and Thursday was no different.  

After Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made a visit to the Capitol to meet with a bipartisan group of senators and discuss the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, Sen. Bob Corker expressed concern that the president was going to the U.N. Security Council to lobby support before Congress votes on the deal. “I look at that as (an affront) to the American people,” the Tennessee Republican and Foreign Relations chairman told CQ Roll Call, adding the council would be “agreeing to an agreement that they don’t even know they can implement.”  

The panel’s ranking Democrat, Maryland Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, agreed with Corker that the president should not submit an agreement to the U.N.  

“I agree it be better-advised for the president not to submit during this 60-day period,” Cardin said.  

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz went further in his condemnation, threatening to block approval of all State Department nominees unless Obama ordered a veto of the U.N. Security Council resolution that would endorse the deal.  

Earlier Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., affirmed her support for the deal and said she thought Democrats would have enough votes prevent Republicans from overriding it.  

Aisha Chowdry and Rachel Oswald contributed to this report.

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