White House

Washington (CNN) Congress is giving President Barack Obama some breathing room on nuclear talks with Iran, while Obama is appealing directly to Iranians to support a deal facing a deadline at the end of the month.

After weeks of contentious maneuvering by the Senate and the White House over a bill that would force the administration to submit any deal to a congressional vote, senators pushing the measure said Thursday they would wait an additional three weeks before bringing the legislation to the floor.

The delay gives U.S. negotiators more time to hammer out an agreement and backers of the bill more time to gather support.

“We have been working together very closely to ensure we have the strongest vote possible,” and pushing the vote back to April 14 will provide the best opportunity for that, said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, and Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat, in a joint statement.

READ: Compromises being reached in Iran talks

Corker had initially indicated that the vote would come next week, but Obama administration officials launched a heavy lobbying effort that appeared to sway some Senate Democrats against it.

The White House has issued a veto threat of the bill, requiring a two-thirds vote to override.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest warned Thursday that the legislation would be unhelpful to the delicate talks. “Passing this kind of legislation would interfere in the negotiations, and it would be a piece of legislation both that we would encourage members of Congress in both parties, frankly, to not support,” he said.

Obama, meanwhile, made clear Thursday night that Congress wasn’t the only constituency that needed to be courted for the deal to come to fruition.

Read further