McConnell, Graham Will Oppose START

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and moderate Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both indicated over the weekend that they will not vote to ratify the START Treaty in the lame duck session.

“I’ve decided I can not support the treaty,” McConnell said during an interview with on CNN’s State of the Union. “I think the verification provisions are inadequate. And I do worry about the missile defense implications of it.”

The Minority Leader also took issue with the pace of the legislation, saying that it seems the Democrats are “trying to jam us.”

Graham, appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, said that he does not believe the treaty will pass prior to the end of the lame-duck session in early January.

“With fifty amendments left, I don’t think you can have a serious debate between now and January 4th,” Graham said. “Given the process and the substance … here’s a real hurdle there.”

The treaty, signed between Russia and the U.S., would limit each country’s nuclear arsenal to 3,000 warheads. Two attempts by Republicans to amend the treaty failed over the weekend.

In order to ratify the treaty, 67 votes are needed in the Senate.