President Obama's decision to intervene in Libya was based on a "multilateralist fantasy" rather than on any humanitarian impulse, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

“The president’s address made it clear to me that our military action in Libya is less about humanitarianism and more about realizing a multilateralist fantasy,” Ensign said.

Multilateralism is a term applied in international relations to describe missions undertaken by multiple nations.

Ensign said Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton mislead the American people by suggesting the Senate had approved President Obama’s decision to attack forces controlled by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

“The United States Senate called for a no-fly zone in a resolution that it passed, I think, on March the 1st, and that mission is on the brink of having been accomplished,” said Clinton on March 27 on ABC’s This Week. “There was a lot of congressional support to do something.”

Clinton was referring to Senate Resolution 85 “strongly condemning the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Libya.” Ensign, however, said Clinton exaggerated the significance of that resolution.

“While secretary Clinton has continued to refer to Senate Resolution 85 as a Senate endorsement of the president’s establishment of a no-fly zone, I would like point out to the American people that her talking point is very misleading,” Ensign said.

“This issue was hot-lined and there was no debate allowed on the issue,” continued Ensign. “Senate Resolution 85 describe a no-fly zone as a possible action for the United Nations’s Security Counsel to consider, but it did not instruct he U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to take action or let alone authorize military operations.”

Ensign pointed out that the resolution had passed the Senate by the same procedure used to name a post office building.

House Democrats on Wednesday sought to downplay a Republican bill to reinstate a school choice voucher program in Washington, D.C., and instead pushed to take up a bill that would address what they call China's unfair currency manipulation, in order to boost US job creation.

The House began debate on the rule for the voucher bill, H.R. 471, shortly after noon. The bill, from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), is controversial because its support for charter schools is not supported by teachers unions, and thus many Democrats.

In opposing the bill, Democrats on Wednesday said time in the House would be better spent shoring up U.S. jobs and said they would try to change the rule so a China currency bill, H.R. 639, would be made the next order of business.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Thursday will address what he called the Obama administration's "Libyan war" in a one-hour presentation on the House floor.

"We are in the midst of a foreign policy and constitutional crisis," Kucinich said Wednesday. "The administration has committed our nation to a war against Libya in violation of the Constitution of the United States."

He also noted a New York Times story that said the Libyan opposition may have ties to Al Qaeda, and that the US is considering arming these forces.

Kucinich said his Thursday "response" to the military action would be "in the form of facts and questions," and said the administration has "subverted Congress and the United States Constitution."

"Congress must challenge violations of our constitutional principles related to war and peace," he said. "The critical issue today is not the defense of Libyan democracy, but the defense of American democracy."

Rep. Marcy Kaptur accused President Obama of waiting for Congress to go into recess to deploy U.S. forces in Libya.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) complained Wednesday that Republicans had tacked a number of “non-appropriate” amendments to the small-business bill and that they have refused to allow votes to go forward.

Reid had predicted action on some of those amendments Tuesday, but the Senate adjourned around 8 p.m. that evening without having taken a single vote.

Senate majority leader cites a CNN poll that found that 47 percent of Americans view the Tea Party in an unfavorable light.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday introduced six bills aimed at reforming mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including one that would drastically cut pay packages for senior executives. These join two other bills that Republicans have already introduced.

The bill introduced by committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) would suspend current pay packages for Fannie and Freddie executives and set up new packages that are "in accordance with rates of pay for senior employees in the executive branch of the federal government."

Work on a small-business reauthorization bill stalled in the Senate this week after Democrats resisted a demand from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to vote on his amendment to repeal a tax credit for ethanol.

According to Senate sources, Coburn is refusing any unanimous consent agreement that would allow the Senate to begin voting on amendments until a vote on his ethanol amendment is assured. Talks on how to handle the impasse took place into Tuesday night, and were thought to be continuing Wednesday morning.

Coburn said on Tuesday that it is an "outrage" that the Senate so far will not allow a vote on his amendment, which he said would save $5 billion.

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) said Tuesday night he would introduce a bill this week that would prohibit any new regulation from being issued by the federal government in President Obama's first term.

"I think it's time we just put a big old hold on the regulatory agencies, and tell them that unless this is of major national importance, we don't think there ought to be any regulations for the balance of this Congress," Carter said on the House floor. "So I am proposing a bill for an outright ban of all new federal regulations through the remainder of the Obama administration."