Senate Republicans blocked an Iran sanctions package on Thursday saying the bill needs to include stronger language reiterating that the United States is prepared to use force to stop any nuclear weapons program. 

Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) are pushing legislation that would roll back a recent White House decision to expand drone strikes against terrorist targets around the world. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday attacked a Republican proposal reinforcing the right of military chaplains to steer clear of gay marriage ceremonies.

The bill provides $3 billion more for defense than President Obama requested, setting up a showdown with the Senate.

Republican members of the House Rules Committee scuttled an aggressive proposal by House Democrats demanding the White House begin accelerating American troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. 

The bill is identical to Clinton-Obama legislation questioning Bush's declaration of cooperation with Iraq without congressional approval.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is working with the chamber's Republicans to pass an Iran sanctions package on Thursday. 

Reid is expected to ask unanimous consent on the Johnson-Shelby Iran sanctions bill that includes economic and oil sanctions as an avenue to pressure Iran to ditch its nuclear program, according to a Democratic aide. 

A Republican aide told The Hill that a final agreement is still in the works. 

The legislation includes part of an amendment that Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) had lobbied to include. The provision is aimed at strengthening sanctions "against companies that engage in or support censorship in Iran." 

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) warned Thursday morning that two planned House votes later in the day will move the United States much closer to a war footing against Iran, by seeking to alter U.S. diplomatic goals with Iran and by requiring the United States to move military assets to the Middle East in preparation for war.

On the diplomatic front, the House is expected to vote Thursday on H.Res. 568, a resolution expressing the importance of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. While this is a non-binding resolution, Kucinich warned that it urges President Obama to affirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability, and oppose policies that accept containment of a nuclear-capable Iran.

The Obama campaign intends to engage military servicemembers and their families with a new election initiative, announced in a campaign ad released Thursday.