WASHINGTON, 24 March 2007 — A sharply divided House of Representatives voted yesterday to order President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress’ boldest challenge yet to the administration’s policy. Just over an hour later, an angry Bush accused Democrats of staging nothing more than political theater and said that if the spending bill is not approved and signed into law by April 15, troops and their families “will face significant disruptions.”
Ignoring Bush’s promised veto, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep over the Republicans last November, which gave them control of Congress.
In the Senate, Democratic leaders will need 60 votes to prevail on troop withdrawal legislation, a tall order because they will need about a dozen Republicans to join them.
Should lawmakers send Bush a compromise House-Senate measure, both chambers would need two-thirds majorities to override him, which neither seems likely to be able to muster.
“The American people have lost faith in the president’s conduct of this war,” said the House leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not.”
At the White House, Bush said: “A narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting the troops the resources they need to do their job.
“These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders.”
