President Bush Stands Up to Congress

Looks like the President may be heading into another war. But not with another country but with the Democrat controlled Congress. There seems to be an upcoming collision with Congress over the President Bush's new Iraq war strategy, in which President Bush is calling for additional troops to be sent to the region.

There are several resolutions that will emerge on the Senate floor in the upcoming weeks. The resolutions will put the Senate on record for opposing President Bush new Iraq war strategy, particularly sending more troops. Even though the resolutions are non-binding, meaning the President does not have to follow them and really has no effect on the war in Iraq. They do, however, send a clear message to President Bush that Congress does not support him with the war.

Among the resolutions, Senator John Warner probably has the strongest to pass the Senate. His resolution, even though it opposes sending more troops to Iraq in general, would leave open the idea open to a small number of troops being sent into some of the Western Provinces of Iraq. Where those troops will be sent from will be a major debate because it is unclear where Warner's resolution says those troops will come from. Another resolution was introduces by Senators Joseph Biden and Carl Levin. Their resolution calls for no additional troops, at all, being sent to Iraq. Their resolution flatly states that sending more troops to Iraq would not be in the best interest to the United States.

There are even some Senators who still support President Bush and the war in Iraq. They also will try to muster enough support for their own resolution. Senators John McCain and John Cornyn are expected to draft separate but similar resolutions. But it will be hard for either to find much support in either or any Republican led resolutions because in those resolutions, they all for more troops. Any support those Senators were hoping for have already slipped to the Democrats and their resolutions.

Even though any of these resolutions are non-binding and President Bush is under no obligation to follow any of them; they do, however, let President Bush know where he stands with Congress. Both sides of the aisle are coming together in bipartisanship, which President Bush was hoping to avoid. President Bush knows he is losing Republican support for the war in Iraq.

But President Bush is standing firm and his response to Congress is that, regardless of what they say and do, he is the commander-on-chief and is the final decision maker on the war. He also challenge Democrats to come up with their own strategy for the War. President Bush must be a little concern because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Iraq on her very own fact finding mission and could come back with a strategy. If any resolution is sent to the House after it passes the Senate, Pelosi could have influence over which resolution she might support. She has already stated she does not support the war and sending over more troops but is stopping short in stating Congress will cut the purse strings for the War. So even though President Bush may be the commander-in-chief, Congress does hold the financial say in the war by approving his requests for more funding.

The next few weeks will be critical for President Bush. Not only is he already challenging Congress with the war on Iraq, he has made his stance with Congress. He has let them know where Congress stands with him. But could that come back to haunt him because he still has two more years in office.