Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has led a push by the diplomatic corps to encourage Republican senators to ratify the New START Treaty, her spokesman said Monday.
Clinton has spoken to several GOP lawmakers ahead of an expected test vote Tuesday that could prove whether President Obama's top foreign policy priority will be able to make its way through Congress this year.
"She is poised to continue to engage any senator with questions as we go through the final couple of days of debate," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in his daily briefing. "Obviously, we're looking to the cloture vote tomorrow in the Senate but continue to believe strongly that this is the time for the Senate to act and ratify the treaty."
Crowley said Clinton had spoken to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about the nuclear arms deal between the U.S. and Russia. (McConnell on Sunday announced his opposition to the agreement, and reiterated it in a floor speech on Monday.)
The State Department spokesman ultimately chalked GOP opposition up to politics more than any other factor, however.
"At this point, any objections at this point are more about politics than substance," Crowley contended. "And that's regrettable because it's contrary to the history of strong bipartisan support, you know, for arms control treaties going back decades."