House GOP wants to cut off "faucet" for Libya operation
Updated 9:13 p.m. ET
House GOP leadership went into an afternoon conference meeting today to discuss the two different Libya resolutions with members that they hoped to bring to the floor tomorrow.
The first resolution would authorize military operations in Libya with language similar to a Senate proposal from Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Kerry, D-Mass. This was, and still is, expected to fail with opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. That's despite bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate.
The other resolution, which is favored by the House GOP leadership, would direct the president to withdraw forces from hostile actions in Libya, but allow certain operations to continue like aerial refueling, intelligence and operational planning.
But House GOP members rejected the plan.
The majority of the conference agreed that another non-binding resolution on Libya was not forceful enough, according to members leaving the meeting.
"You can do resolutions until you're blue in the face" said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., leaving the meeting. "If they go over to the Senate and they don't go anywhere what are we going to do next week another resolution saying that we really don't like what the president is doing or are we going to pull the trigger and cut off the faucet so to speak."
House GOP members are now looking at options to cut off that faucet. Members want to prevent U.S. funding for hostile actions like drone strikes in Libya by restricting where the money can go.
"A lot of people want to just cut off the funding they said that's what our power is, the power of the purse so just cut off funding," said House Armed Services Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif.
When asked if he supported the move, McKeon said "Well, sure. I think that would be wonderful. The only problem with it is you have to pass it in the House and Senate and the president sign it. What's the chance of that?"
So regardless, passing a bill that restricts funding will still be symbolic.
But for freshman lawmakers like Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., it's important to send a message to the president that he must consult Congress in the future and that it's time to cut bait.
"I think there's going to be a number of us that are going to be saying we've got to find a graceful, yet forceful, way of getting out of this."
House leadership still plans to bring a resolution and legislation to the floor before leaving for another district work period this Friday, but now must draft the new language and find a way around the three day rule for posting legislation online before the House votes on it.
