WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Democrats have two congressional options to block President George Bush's plan for more troops in Iraq, including procedural delays and withholding money.
The boldest -- denying money for the deployment of 21,500 more troops -- is being championed by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., head of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, which the Christian Science Monitor said is the gateway for every dollar spent on the war. Murtha has vowed to use that power to stop more deployments if he said it could be shown to undermine the military's domestic readiness.
Another option submitted as a Senate bill by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would call for time-consuming hearings, investigations, and resolutions or require Bush to return to Congress for approval before committing troops.
Louis Fisher, an expert in separation of powers at the Library of Congress, said the Democrats had a freer hand than they seem to realize.
"I don't know why we have members of Congress out there who say there's nothing constitutional that Congress can do. Politically, they may feel like it's crazy to do anything restricting money supporting troops, but constitutionally they can do what they like and they've done it in the past," Fisher told the Monitor.
