WASHINGTON — The House on Friday voted to require
President Barack Obama to swiftly report to Congress on the rationale
for continued U.S. military engagement in Libya, launching a potential
showdown over federal funding for the NATO-led operation.
The House voted 268-145 for the resolution that also
said the administration has failed to make the case for military action
in support of rebels fighting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, as required
by the authority of the War Powers Act.
By bringing the resolution forward, House Speaker
John Boehner, R-Ohio, was able to halt momentum for an increasingly
popular liberal-led proposal from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to
immediately withdraw U.S. troops from Libya. It was rejected, 148-265.
The votes come amid growing anti-war sentiment in
Congress, the reflection of an unusual alliance of the antiwar left and
newly energized conservatives that has surfaced on other national
security issues.
With the annual defense spending bill expected to
come before the House in a matter of weeks as deficit-slashing dominates
the debate in Washington, the administration is likely to face new
resistance to fund its military campaigns.
“Today’s debate on Libya is the first step,” Boehner said Friday. “We’ll take further action in the weeks to come.”
A White House spokesman called the resolutions “unnecessary and unhelpful.”
“The administration believes strongly in the concept
of consulting with leaders in Congress,” deputy press secretary Josh
Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Toledo, Ohio,
where the president was speaking Friday.
“It is the view of this administration that we’ve
acted in accordance with the War Powers Act because of this regular
consultation,” Earnest said. “We’ve been engaged in that consultation
all along.”
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