BBC AMERICA: US House Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress on Iran.
The move is seen as a rebuke to President Barack Obama's threat to veto any additional sanctions on the country during his State of the Union address.
The White House has said it believes new sanctions will be harmful to negotiations on its nuclear programme.
Mr Boehner also criticised the president's other proposals, including a tax hike for the rich.
He confirmed on Wednesday he had invited Mr Netanyahu to speak to Congress "on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life".
The Speaker accused Mr Obama of "papering over" the threat of both militant Islamic groups and Iran's nuclear programme in his speech. Congree in Netanyahu snub to Obama » | Wednesday, January 21, 2015