Members of Congress, first led by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in a lawsuit seeking an injunction from federal court on Obama’s military force in Libya, sent an uncomfortable message to the administration by voting to reject a formal authorization of the use of force in Libya. The House on Friday, with bipartisan support, voted down a resolution similar to one recently passed in the Senate expressing support for the U.S. mission by a vote 123 to 295. The Associated Press reported that the vote is the first time since 1999 that Congress has voted against a president’s authority to conduct a military operation, “challenging presidential power”, a measure that has to be an embarrassment for President Obama.
Bipartisan members of Congress across the political spectrum have expressed outrage that Obama failed to consult or win Congressional approval before moving forward with a $750 million military campaign amid growing anxiety over the nation’s budget woes.
Members of Congress across the political spectrum have expressed outrage that Obama failed to consult or win Congressional approval before moving forward with a $750 million military campaign amid growing anxiety over the nation’s budget woes. Others cite the War Powers Act of 1973, which requires the White House to obtain Congressional approval for the use of military force after 60 days of first initiating it, with a 30 day extension. The combat in Libya started well over 90 days ago, and President Obama made a bad situation worse when he reported to Congress the Libyan war had not amounted to “hostilities” as described in the aforementioned Wars Powers Act.
But the House on Friday did not go as far as Kucinich and some of his fellow anti-war collegues had wanted. A bill cutting funding for the military operation in Libya and restricting the United States’ role there failed by 238 to 180. The bill itself was meant to be symbolic, since it had little chance of passing the Senate even if it had prevailed in the House.
President Obama is clearly not helping himself with nonpartisan government agencies, like the CBO, reporting the economy is crumbling with no recovery in sight in the short term, and now angering his liberal base and typical supporters in Washington with the duress of a third war in Libya. With FED Chairman Ben Barnanke also announcing his economic forecast is more grim that he previously reported, and GOP presidential hopefuls stumping in many parts of the U.S., it looks as though it may be a long hot summer for President Obama. Still no word from Code Pink.
-Buzz