Congress Approves War Funds

(NEWSER) - President Obama has had to change his tune a few times since he took office, but the content of his speech to Congress tonight will be no surprise, Michael Scherer writes in Time. Talking points have been consistent for long enough to predict 5 key features:

• I'm not Bush: In case Congress didn't notice, Obama will emphasize particularly his break from the former president's "deception" as regards the budget—and the helicopters.

Republicans abstain in protest, leading to surprise defeat

(NEWSER) - The House today shot down a $162.5 billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year after a surprise tactic by angry Republicans, the Washington Post reports. The bill failed by a vote of 148-141 after 132 members of the GOP abstained. By doing so, they formed an unusual coalition with a group of anti-war Democrats. The vote doesn't mean the wars won't be funded, however—the bill will be revived in the Senate next week. More»

Lugar, Warner seek redeployment, want specifics by October

(NEWSER) - Two of the GOP's most respected foreign policy experts want troop realignment in Iraq, and they proposed Senate legislation yesterday that calls for the White House to have a plan in place by mid-October. The move by Richard Lugar and John Warner was the latest sign of disintegrating Republican support for President Bush's Iraq strategy, the Washington Post reports. More»

Unusual move allows vote against war, for domestic spending

(NEWSER) - House Democratic leaders are splitting the new Iraq funding bill into two distinct amendments, the Politco reports. One will be the $103 billion Bush requested for the war in Iraq, which will speak of benchmarks but won't demand a withdrawal date, the other a $17 billion domestic spending package. More»

New war spending bill won't include much-ballyhooed provision

(NEWSER) - Democratic leaders have quietly abandoned a cornerstone of their Iraq war platform: a timeline for withdrawal. Racing to pass a spending bill before the Memorial Day recess, they don't have the votes to pass a timeline, the LA Times reports, and they risk fallout for failing to fund troops in the field if they can’t reach an agreement this week. More»