A defiant US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Friday to deny President Barack Obama the authority to wage war against Libya.
Republicans fell short in an effort to actually cut off funds for the operation in a constitutional showdown reflecting both political differences and unease over American involvement.
In a repudiation of their commander in chief, House members rejected a measure to authorize the Libya mission for a year, while prohibiting U.S. ground forces in the North African nation, a resolution Obama had said he would welcome.
"The vote was 295-123 with 70 Democrats abandoning Obama just one day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had made an unusual appeal to rank-and-file members," the US The Telegraph said.
A Senate committee is to consider the same resolution next Tuesday and is expected to support it, raising the prospect of conflicting messages from Congress.
| US Speaker of the House John Boehner criticises the Obama administration's policy towards Libya, saying that the President lacked Congressional approval. |
Friday's votes showed lawmakers' concerns about an open-ended U.S. commitment to a civil war between Moammar Gaddafi and the opposing forces looking to oust him – as well as growing weariness among Americans with drawn-out conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The resounding number rejecting the authority resolution was a clear sign of anger toward Obama for failing to seek congressional consent for the operation within 60 days, as stated in the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
Republicans and Democrats argued that Obama had run roughshod over the Constitution, ignoring the authority of the legislative branch that the founding fathers had insisted has the power to declare war.
While Republican as well as Democratic presidents have often ignored the War Powers Resolution, a frustrated House voted earlier this month to rebuke Obama for failing to provide a "compelling rationale" for the Libyan mission and for launching U.S. military forces without congressional approval.
