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Democratic Revolt Delays War Funding Bill

By Mark Impomeni
May 12th 2008 12:30PM

Filed Under:eHouse, Democrats, Featured Stories, Iraq, Nancy Pelosi

The long-delayed supplemental war funding measure was delayed again in Congress last week, this time by an internal struggle within the Democratic caucus. Moderate and conservative Democrats, known as Blue Dogs, objected to the leadership's plan to load up the bill with billions in extra spending items. The Blue Dogs are upset with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) plan to include spending for unemployment benefit extensions and a new entitlement for troop education, a new GI Bill, in the bill. They fear a backlash against the increased spending and the use of the supplemental as a vehicle to score electoral points in their districts, which are conservative in nature. Republicans also object to the supplemental on procedural grounds. Democrats have by-passed the appropriations committee in drafting the legislation and are not allowing minority Republicans to offer proposals on the measure. Republicans have retaliated by forcing procedural votes in protest.

Democrats took control of the House in 2006 partly on the strength of wins in Republican leaning districts. There are thirty-four Democrats serving in the House from such districts, and their re-election in the fall is critical to Democrats hopes of keeping control of the chamber. Accordingly, the Blue Dogs' concerns are being given great weight by the speaker. "Their concerns are very legitimate," Pelosi said, "They must be addressed." Pelosi also must deal with the anti-war liberal members of her caucus, however, and they are not likely to support the war funding bill without inducements like the unemployment benefits. It makes for a perilous balancing act for the Speaker, one that she lost to the White House's veto in last year's supplemental war funding battle.

Pelosi plans to bridge the divide between the left and right flanks of her caucus by splitting the supplemental into three parts. Each would deal with war funding, anti-war provisions, and domestic spending. In theory, that would allow each of her disparate groups to vote for and against the parts they object to without risking a veto on the overall bill. In pursuing this strategy, Pelosi is counting on the Senate to filter out any provisions that might cause the president to reject the measure. Unknown is how the entire Democrat caucus would vote on the eventual Senate product, which is likely to differ from the House version, and which cannot be split up.

During the debate over the war supplemental last year, Democrats tried first to pass provisions that would limit the funding and utilization of U.S. troops in Iraq. They lost that battle when a series of presidential vetoes produced a series of failed attempts to override the White House. Democrats appear to have learned their lesson this time as they do not plan any controversial measures on this year's bill. Still, the debate exposes fissures in the Democrats' caucus that they can ill afford heading into the fall elections, especially since the presidential nomination contest has split the party so deeply.

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