The House of Representatives, in a surprise and largely symbolic move, defeated legislation on Thursday to fund the war in Iraq for another year. But it also sent the Senate a controversial troop-withdrawal plan that will give that chamber an opportunity to restore the money for waging the conflict, which is deeply unpopular with the public.With a large group of anti-war Democrats voting against giving the Pentagon $162.5 billion to keep fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through mid-2009, the House defeated the measure by a vote of 149-141.
Meanwhile, 132 Republicans voted "present" -- meaning neither "yes" nor "no" -- on the legislation, which brought another difficult debate about U.S. war policy just as the presidential and congressional elections are heating up and Republicans fear large losses in November.
Some Republicans said they were protesting the way Democrats brought the legislation to the House floor without House Appropriations Committee consideration. Most Republicans support the money for the war and oppose timetables for pulling troops out of Iraq.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters he expects the Senate to restore the war funding and give House Republicans another chance to approve it.
The White House has issued a veto threat against setting dates for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq as part of a war-funding bill. President George W. Bush vetoed such a measure a year ago.