Lawmakers from both parties are conceding that President Bush’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumps the power of the purse enjoyed by Congress, even one that has been taken over by Democrats.
So while Democrats have already begun to preemptively attack the president’s expected call for a “surge” of additional troops into Iraq, few believe such a surge can be blocked.
“I assume it’s unlikely you’ll try to stop it,” Brit Hume of “Fox News Sunday” asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. “Or am I wrong about that?”
“You’re probably right,” replied Hoyer, D-Md. “But I think it’s too early to say. After all, there are going to be many, many hearings — 10, 15, a series of hearings — by various different committees over the next three weeks, four weeks, on this proposal.”
But hearings do not necessarily translate into concrete policy, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“We can have hearings, we can debate the matter, which we will do,” he told Fox. “But I don’t think Congress will have the ability to simply micromanage the tactics in the war, nor should it.”
He added: “About all the Congress could do, if it chose to do it — and I don’t believe it will choose to do it — would be to cut off money for the troops.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “we won’t do that,” when asked whether Democrats would cut off funding for the 140,000 U.S. troops already in Iraq. But she said her party will apply “the harshest scrutiny” to any request for funding additional troops.
Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed doubt that such scrutiny will lead to Democrats blocking Bush from sending more troops. Biden, D-Del., opposes a surge.
“But there’s not much I can do about it; not much anybody can do about it,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He’s commander in chief. If he surges another 20, 30 [thousand], or whatever number he’s going to, into Baghdad, it’ll be a tragic mistake, in my view, but, as a practical matter, there’s no way to say, ‘Mr. President, stop.’ ”
