Lawmakers mock Obama claim on Libya hostilities.
From a perplexed AP:
"In an escalating constitutional fight, House Speaker John Boehner threatened to withhold money for the mission, pitting a Congress eager to exercise its power of the purse against a dug-in White House. The Ohio Republican signaled that the House could take action as early as next week.
"The accumulated consequence of all this delay, confusion and obfuscation has been a wholesale revolt in Congress against the administration's policy," said Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee who has backed Obama's actions against Libya.
The administration, in a report it reluctantly gave to Congress on Wednesday, said that because the United States is in a supporting role in the NATO-led mission, American forces are not facing the hostilities that would require the president to seek such congressional consent under the War Powers Resolution.
The 1973 law prohibits the military from being involved in actions for more than 60 days without congressional authorization, plus a 30-day extension. The 60-day deadline passed last month with the White House saying it is in compliance with the law. The 90-day mark is Sunday.
In the meantime, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has maintained his grip on power, and the White House says if the mission continues until September, it will cost $1.1 billion.
Instead of calming lawmakers, the White House report and its claims about no hostilities further inflamed the fierce balance-of-power fight."
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