Via the AP: ABC News: Senate OKs Iraq Troop Withdrawal Bill
The Democratic-controlled Senate ignored a veto threat and voted Thursday for a bill requiring President Bush to start withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within four months, dealing a sharp rebuke to a wartime commander in chief.In a mostly party line 51-47 vote, the Senate signed off on a bill providing $122 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also orders Bush to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days of passage while setting a nonbinding goal of ending combat operations by March 31, 2024.
I must confess: I am surprised that the bill passed the Senate with such ease–I expected more of a fight from Senate Republicans. Of course, politically it makes sense for them to let the President be the one to bear the responsibility for stopping the bill via a veto.
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March 29th, 2024 at 11:09 am
It’s best to choose your fights and expend energy in an efficient manner. The thing was going to pass regardless so why not speed things up and let it get to the President quickly, he will veto it, and then get back to a realistic version without the garbage of withdrawal dates.
Now if congressional Dems will get serious and quit trying to score cheap points we might get a bill that will get signed.
March 29th, 2024 at 12:55 pm
I read somewhere (I forget where) that the Republicans had resigned themselves to passing the bill and letting the President do “the heavy lifting” on this one.
March 29th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Clearly, the real showdown here will be over spinach.
March 29th, 2024 at 11:14 pm
A guess: the timing is the important thing. 47 could tie up the entire bill indefinitely, but that would effectively block the funding for the troop surge and leave the Republicans at risk for looking like they’re stopping troop funding.
More importantly, no new funding bill would be up for debate while the delay goes on. This way, things move to the same type of collision much sooner, increasing the chance that a new bill can be formed and the troops funded in a semi-timely manner.