The Hill News

Ten incoming Republican senators wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to ask that Senate consideration of the New START treaty wait until next year.

The 10 senators-elect urged Reid against pushing ahead with a vote to ratify the nuclear arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia during the lame-duck Congress.

"Out of respect for our states' voters, we believe it would be improper for the Senate to consider the New START Treaty or any other treaty in a lame duck session prior to January 3, 2011," the incoming senators wrote in a letter released Thursday.

The letter comes as the battle over the nuclear arms treaty heats up in Congress. Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), the second-ranking GOP senator, said earlier this week that the treaty would not pass during the lame-duck. (A treaty needs 67 ! votes for ratification.)

Kyl's declaration forced Senate Democrats and the White House to look for more votes and examine whether it's possible to push forward with ratification, which they had hoped to secure before the end of the year. The treaty enjoys some Republican support, but it's not clear if enough GOP votes exist to push the treaty over the finish line.

If a vote is delayed until the next Congress, Republicans will be in an even stronger position to block the treaty, as they'll control an additional six seats.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said this morning on MSNBC that he'd been in regular contact with Kyl on the treaty. Kerry has a meeting this morning at the White House, and said he was meeting this afternoon with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The 10 Republican senators-elect to urge the delay are: Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Jerry Mora! n (Kan.), Mike Lee (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.), John Hoeven (N.! D.), Kel ly Ayotte (N.H.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).