Libyan rebels firing rockets (Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP)
Authorization for the U.S. military mission against Moammar Gaddafi and Libya was rejected in a floor vote of the House of Representatives on Friday, but a simultaneous effort to pull funding for the joint U.S./NATO intervention failed. The overall outcome was deemed “symbolic” by the New York Times.
House Republicans lead by Speaker John Boehner set up the votes as a means to both embarrass President Obama and give a voice to the growing numbers of lawmakers concerned with both how the administration committed U.S. forces and resources to the Libya bombing campaign and whether taxpayer funds should continue to flow to a war that will soon reach the one billion dollar cost threshold.
The first vote, to belatedly “authorize” the president’s “limited” use of U.S. forces against Libya, failed 123 to 295. The second vote, which would have cut off funding to the ongoing mission, also failed 180 to 238, a confusing outcome that both rebukes the president for going to war without congressional approval but also allows him to continue prosecuting the mission in Libya.
The White House said they were “disappointed by that vote” and berated the House for sending a “mixed message.” Since “the writing is on the wall for Colonel Quaddaffi,” according to the White House, “now is not the time to let up.”
The House dealt a symbolic blow to President Obama on Friday by resoundingly rejecting a bill that would authorize the contentious operations in Libya. But it muddled the message somewhat by also turning back a measure that would have limited funding for the Libyan effort.
The resolution to support the mission failed 295 to 123 with 70 Democrats joining Republicans in a pointed show of defiance to Mr. Obama, who has said he does not need congressional authorization for the Libyan operations. Only eight Republicans supported the measure, which was based on a Senate measure introduced Tuesday by Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
(See how all the members voted.)
The Senate has yet to take up the McCain-Kerry measure.
The second measure the House rejected would have essentially prohibited money for direct combat activity, funding only support operations like search and rescue, aerial refueling, operational planning, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Only 180 House members supported the measure, while 238, including 89 Republicans, voted against it.
“We are disappointed by that vote,” said Jay Carney, a White House spokesman. “ We think now is not the time to send the kind of mixed message that it sends when we are working with our allies to achieve the goals that we believe that are widely shared in Congress, that — protecting civilians in Libya, enforcing a no-fly zone, enforcing an arms embargo and further putting pressure on Qaddafi. And the writing is on the wall for Colonel Qaddafi, and now is not the time to let up.”
The votes Friday leave unclear the prospects for an amendment that a bipartisan group of House members plans to offer to a Pentagon appropriations bill next week, which would cut funding for intelligence and operational support in Libya as well, and end all activities by October. Other Libya-related amendments to that bill could also surface.
The roll call vote on authorizing the U.S. military mission in Libya.
The roll call vote to cut funding for the mission in Libya.
Harsh rebuke my ass. Voting against an authorization of military force while at the same time voting against not funding it isn’t anything but cowardice on the part of Congress. Grow a pair and assert some Constitutional authority.
Republicans only like to start wars where they can steal billions like in Iraq. This totally shows me that Obama made the right decision, these warmongers are upset they can’t setup a permanent military base or their military industrial complex friends can’t profit. So this means we are intervening for the right reasons if Republicans are opposed!
Pretty awesome that the black guy’s “war” is illegal and needs to be defunded now (and it is and it does), but the good ol’ boy’s TWO illegal wars are just fine because hey, that’s just how it is, you know? We’re just, like, at war there, bro. Not much we can do about it.
It’s just like everything else congress does. TALK IS CHEAP without cutting the funding, which would STOP it cold, and needs to be done. I’m sick of the constant “posturing” with NO ACTION.