Democrats take defensive tack with Bush

They keep the Senate open this week to block high-level White House appointments.

from the November 21, 2007 edition

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"The Senate will be coming in for pro-forma sessions during the Thanksgiving holiday to prevent recess appointments. My hope is that this will prompt the president to see that it is our mutual interests for the nominations process to get back on track," said Senator Reid.

On Tuesday, leaders on the House Appropriations Committee stepped up the war of words with the White House – and fellow Democrats in the Senate – over stalled Iraq war funding. The Pentagon says that Bush's $196.4 billion request is needed by January to avoid the shutdown of US bases and some 100,000 layoffs.

"Rather than working with Congress on a responsible war-spending package, this administration is executing a plan to plunder from these essential base budget accounts in order to fund a continuation of the president's misguided war," said Rep. John Murtha (D) of Pennsylvania, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, in a press briefing.

He and Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D) of Wisconsin say that they will not move another war-funding bill this year, unless it includes three conditions: a requirement that all troops deployed into combat be fully trained and equipped, a ban on torture, and a goal of getting out of a combat role in Iraq by December 2008. President Bush threatens to veto any bill that includes conditions that restrict the Pentagon and commander in chief.

Before the Thanksgiving nonrecess, the Senate rejected two war-funding bills. The Democratic version, which also passed the House, provided $50 billion toward Bush's $196.4 billion request, but with a "goal" of completing a transition out of a combat role in Iraq by December 2008. It fell seven votes short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. A GOP version, which provided $70 billion without a timetable for withdrawal, failed 45 to 53.

In response, Sen. Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) of Hawaii, who chairs the Defense appropriations subcommittee, said they would work on a version of the bill that is less restrictive.

Nearly two months into the new fiscal year, Democrats have passed only two of 12 annual spending bills. Last week, the House failed to override a presidential veto of the biggest domestic spending measure, the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill totaling $606 billion. The White House threatens vetoes on all but one of the remaining bills unless Democrats meet his budget limit.

"Democrats face a tough situation: a Republican president who was just unwilling to compromise on many policies, even if it meant plummeting popular ratings, and a very effective and disciplined Republican minority," says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.

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