House GOP Leaders Embarrassed in 'Sure-Thing' Libya Vote

Updated at 7 p.m. edt

The Republican sponsor of the failed House bill that would have defunded the NATO mission in Libya is falling on his own sword, taking the blame for the measure's defeat.

"It was my bill. You can blame me," an apologetic Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) told Fox News. "I think we tried to limit funds so our kids weren't in harm's way but not leave NATO on their own. People either wanted all or they wanted nothing. Now we are back to square one."

Some 89 Republicans voted against the measure.

It was an embarrassing defeat for the majority party in the Republican-controlled House because it detracted from the victory that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled off by defeating a resolution that would have authorized the Libya operation for a year.

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An anticipated slam-dunk vote today in the House on a GOP measure to cut funding for the NATO air campaign in Libya turned into an in-your-face rejection when the measure was shockingly defeated.

The vote was 238-180 in opposition of the legislation to cut off money for the air campaign and bar the U.S. from launching drone attacks and airstrikes in the NATO-led campaign.

The embarrassed GOP House leadership claimed it did not conduct a whip count -- the tally of support that is usually done ahead of a contentious vote.

Earlier, however, the House voted as expected to reject a non-binding resolution allowing the U.S. to conduct military operations in Libya for one year. It also barred the U.S. from deploying ground forces, but that is a non-issue since President Obama has said from the start there would be no boots on the ground.

Despite an 11th-hour plea from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, some 70 Democrats split with Obama in the  295-123 vote that denied support for the air campaign. The vote came as a new poll today shows more Americans are now opposed to the Libya mission.

House members are miffed that Obama has decided the Libya campaign does not fall under the War Powers resolution of 1973 because it does not amount to "hostilities," since, as the President argues, the U.S. is only providing support to NATO at this point.

The War Powers resolution requires a President to consult Congress when the U.S. goes to war within a couple of months after the hostilities commence.

The House-approved resolution is expected to die in the Senate, where a powerful bipartisan coalition led by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are set to approve a year-long air campaign.

The vote, nonetheless, was still slap in the face for the White House.

"We think now is not the time to send the kind of mixed message that it sends when we are working with our allies to achieve the goals that we believe that are widely shared in Congress: Protecting civilians in Libya, enforcing a no-fly zone, enforcing an arms embargo and further putting pressure on Gadhafi," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"And the writing is on the wall for Col.Gadhafi, and now is not the time to let up," Carney added.

The last time Congress rejected a President's will to conduct a war came in 1999 when it barred President Bill Clinton from using ground forces to engage Serb troops in Muslim-dominated Kosovo.

Poll: GOP Dovishness on Libya is Just Partisanship

Democratic voters are more supportive of the Libyan air campaign than Republicans, stealing the hawkish pro-military mantle, at least for now, away from the increasingly isolationist GOP, a new survey shows.

Overall, by a margin of 46% to 39% more Americans oppose the NATO-led no-fly zone than support it, reversing the backing that the air campaign had at the outset of the action, a Gallup poll released today indicates.

Americans supported the action 47% to 37% back in March, the survey showed.

Democrats back the Libya action by a margin of 54% to 35%, roughly the same backing Obama's party gave the air campaign at the outset, the polls showed.

Republicans, however, have flipped on their support for the war. In March, the historically hawkish GOP backed the campaign by a margin of 57% to 31%, but those new-found doves now oppose the mission 47% to 39%, Gallup reported.

Independent voters have the most disapproval for the Libya action in the latest poll by a margin of 52% to 31%, but that comes as no surprise since the indies were against the mission at the outset, as well, by a 44%-38% spread.

In its analysis of the poll of 999 adults conducted June 22 Gallup attributed the change of heart in GOP support to partisan politics

"This likely reflects increased criticism of the mission's legality and cost from some Republican congressional leaders and presidential candidates," Gallop analyst Jeffrey Jones  wrote of the survey that has a sampling error of plus or minus of 4%.

The survey comes as the House conducts two show votes today aimed at signaling its disdain for President Obama refusing to abide by the War Powers resolution.

The House action, which would cut spending for the U.S. role in Libya, is mainly theatrics, since the Senate is not expected to follow suit. The Senate is primed to give Obama at least until the end of the year to wrap up the Libya campaign.

The most interesting aspect of the symbolic House opposition to the bombing campaign is the unlikely alliance of conservative Republicans and peacenik Democrats.

White House: Don't Expect Any Changes on Libya Sunday

The White House will disregard the 90-day troop withdrawal deadline Sunday under the War Powers Resolution, even amid the squawking by some in Congress, including supporters of the NATO-led air campaign targeting Moammar Gadhafi's forces and facilities.

"We’re obviously not changing our position. NATO extended the mission a number of weeks ago by 90 days. We are participants in the NATO mission, and our position is very well known," White House spokesman Jay Carney said today.

"What we have said is that our role in this mission, our support role and the kind of engagement that we have right now, does not meet -- in our legal analysis -- does not meet the threshold set by the War Powers Resolution that requires congressional action," Carney said, repeating the position the administration issued this week.

"I’m not going to speculate about what the Libyan situation will look like in 30, 60, 90 days, or six months, or anything like that. But we are participants in this coalition. NATO has extended the mission to continue to fulfill the goals set forward by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, and we continue to participate in it," he added, using language that had to ease concerns at alliance headquarters in Brussels.

Lawmakers in favor of the Libya action, like Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Dick Durban (D-Ill.), think President Obama is misplaying his hand with Congress.

"Congress alone has the constitutional authority and responsibility to declare war," Durban said today, while pushing for a resolution that would end the role of the U.S. in NATO by the end of the year.

The White House had no immediate comment on Durban's proposal.

"I think that every President has said that they don't respect the constitutionality of the War Powers Act but they've always complied. He should comply with it. There's a lot of ill will here that he went to the Arab League and NATO and the U.N. without coming to Congress," McCain added on Fox News.

"So I think it would be very beneficial if he came to Congress and we pass a resolution that says we approved of not sending ground troops, but not prohibit, because that would be unconstitutional," McCain added.

The President will have a chance to discuss Libya with another critic -- House Speaker John Boehner -- when they play a friendly round of golf this weekend. Boehner, another lawmaker who has gone on the record in support of Libya, has threatened to cut off funding for the mission, even though the White House is paying for it with the existing Pentagon budget.

McCain believes Obama has made more egregious mistakes, but contends "Gadhafi is crumbling and I believe he will go."

"The President has made a mess of this situation by not sending U.S. airpower, by not declaring a no-fly zone when it counted, by not recognizing this Transitional National Council as the legitimate voice to the Libyan people, and a number of other mistakes," McCain said.

Obama does have powerful allies who feel Gadhafi cannot hold on much longer, including the backing of the man who controls what bills are considered in the Senate.

"This thing will be over before we know it," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told The NewsHour on PBS tonight.

White House: Fund Rebels with Gadhafi Assets

Updated at 7 p.m. edt

The U.S. has spent $715 million in existing Pentagon funds through June 3 on the Libya mission, the Obama administration said in a dispatch to Congress today.

There are no plans to ask Congress for any special supplemental appropriation for the NATO-led campaign.

Meanwhile, the memo prepared with the help of the Pentagon and State Department confirmed what senior administration officials said earlier: That the Obama administration is complying with the War Powers Resolution and has stepped as part of an international coalition to stop a humanitarian crisis created by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

"Given the important U.S. interests served by U.S. military operations in Libya and the limited nature, scope and duration of the anticipated actions, the President had constitutional authority, as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and pursuant to his foreign affairs powers, to direct such limited military operations abroad," the memorandum to Congress states.

"The President is of the view that the current U.S. military operations in Libya are consistent with the War Powers Resolution and do not under that law require further congressional authorization, because U.S. military operations are distinct from the kind of 'hostilities' contemplated by the Resolution’s 60 day termination provision," the administration added in the memo.

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The Obama administration is working with members of Congress to try to come up with a way to hand the Libyan rebel's governing council some of the estimated $30 billion in assets seized from Moammar Gadhafi by the U.S. Treasury, administration officials said today.

The administration "would take some of those resources" and put it in the hands of the cash-poor, but eventually oil-rich Libyan Transitional National Council, arguing that those billions belong to the Libyan people, a senior administration said.

"We're actively working closely with Congress on that," the official said.

There is already a move in the Senate gaining steam to use Gadhafi's loot to pay for humanitarian aide in Libya.

The White House said it and European and Arab allies are highly confident that the TNC is a pro-democracy government-in-waiting that is opposed to extremist militant Islamists, like Al Qaeda, dismissing politically charged claims from presidential candidates like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

The White House indicated the rebels are constantly vetted and questioned by the alliance members, including by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. envoy in the de facto opposition capital Benghazi.

"We are very familiar with the opposition group," the official said. "It has made positive statements about its commitment to democracy."

The disclosure came as President Obama sent an update on the air war in Libya that some in Congress have demanded.

"This operation has achieved a good deal in just over two months," a senior administration said. "We see cracks in the regime."

The White House also made a spirited defense of its handling of the the military response to the humanitarian crisis, saying it has upheld the War Powers Resolution and will not have to ask Congress for any additional money to pay for the campaign.

There are no boots on the ground, the U.S. stepped in to prevent a further humanitarian crisis and more killings under Gadhafi's orders, and it is a support roll only for the American military, the White House will argue in a report expected to be released shortly.

"We are providing a support role," the official said, noting the White House has provided Congress with regular updates in private briefings and testimony at hearings. "We have not asked Congress for a supplemental (funding)... and have no plans to," the official said.

In a sign that there is no real threat that Congress has the will to wend the U.S. role in Libya, some conservatives like Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and ultra liberals like Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) instead turned to the courts today, suing the Obama administration in federal court today. They argued the Executive Branch is usurping the constitutionality backed War Powers Resolution of 1973.

“With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies,” said Kucinich.

White House aides were confident it would counter the charges in the courts, stopping short of calling it a frivolous lawsuit.