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House Democrats bracing for unpalatable Iraq vote |
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By Mike Soraghan
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Posted: 05/24/07 07:09 PM [ET] |
House Democrats head into their last vote on the Iraq supplemental budget today with a sense of resignation, with fewer than half expected to vote in favor of a bill that gives President Bush nearly everything he wants.
The number of Democrats likely to vote for the Iraq measure ranges from about 60 to a slight minority of the caucus, around 110.
Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is expected to vote against it. But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will probably vote yes.
“With a stubborn, delusional president, we’re never going to win,” said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). “We’re dealing with an administration that refuses to deal with reality. We have no way to evict him from office.”
But House Democrats also said late yesterday afternoon that they would force a September debate on two proposals governing the use of force in Iraq through the rule they set for debate on the Iraq spending bill. If the rule and the bill pass, the House would consider at the end of September legislation sponsored by Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) requiring the secretary of defense to redeploy U.S. troops in Iraq, said a Democratic aide. The House voted down this measure last week.
The rule for the supplemental would also require lawmakers to debate legislation sponsored by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) rescinding congressional authorization for the war.
A Republican leadership aide said the procedural tactic was highly unusual and defied the spirit of Democrats’ pledge to implement open process in the House. The aide said Democrats had not bothered to seek a September debate with Republicans.
Meanwhile, liberal activists lashed out at the deal. MoveOn.org sent an e-mail to all 3.2 million members asking them to lobby their members of Congress to vote against the deal.
“Voters elected Democrats in November to lead the way out of the mess in Iraq, but the supplemental bill to be voted on this week won’t end the war,” Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said in a statement.
The group said it will look at ways to take Republican and Democratic supporters of the bill to task for their votes.
Under the deal that Democratic leaders cut with the White House, the House will vote today on an Iraq spending measure that basically conforms to President Bush’s supplemental request, with some additional language on benchmarks. Members will then vote on a second measure containing the minimum wage increase and numerous spending measures.
Democratic leaders, who view their victory in November as a mandate to end the war, sought to cast the deal with the White House as step forward in their effort to bring troops home. But Republicans said it was a clear win for President Bush.
“It looks to me like the Republican president got what he wanted,” said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.). “It shows he’s still pretty strong on this issue.”
But some Democrats say Republican lawmakers could lose politically because they will be casting another vote to keep the war going, just the way an unpopular Bush wants to do it.
“It will be demonstrated tomorrow, when they support the supplemental overwhelmingly, [that] it continues to be their war,” said Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.). “I don’t think anyone is awkward about having a vote like that.”
Democratic leaders say the next step comes in July, when the next defense-spending bill hits the floor. But Republicans are looking to September, when Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus is to report back to Congress.
“They seem to be holding on by their fingertips for September,” Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, an anti-war Republican from Maryland, said of his GOP colleagues.
LaHood agreed that if the war has not made a turn for the better by September, the tide could turn: “Republicans are going to start looking at the next election. They’re going to start weighing their options. Some members’ political fortunes will rise and fall with the Iraq war.”
Alexander Bolton and Ian Swanson contributed to this report. |
