President Obama may go it alone with a military strike against the Syrian regime, but for the financially struggling Defense Department there will be a price â€" and skeptics in Congress appear ready to play the money card.
The Pentagon has already absorbed one round of across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. Military officials have told Congress that they do not have excess money to carry out a military strike in Syria. And come Jan. 1, the next round of defense cuts will be $20 billion deeper, thanks to a quirk in last January’s “fiscal cliff†budget deal that spared the military some pain.
That means that President Obama will more than likely have to go to Congress to ask for more money, even if â€" as expected â€" he does not seek authorization before military engagement. And on Friday, that led to this warning from the office of the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio:
“If the president is going to need a supplemental spending bill, we would caution him to consider how that request would be received if he chooses to act before Congress is satisfied with his plan,†said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner. “Buy-in from Congress and the American people is critical if he’s going to act.â€
Such a supplemental request could open up the president to bipartisan approbation. But rejecting financing for continuing military operations would be difficult for Congress â€" and possibly untenable politically.
Still, senior Republicans in the House, facing a rebellion among rank-and-file members who oppose anything that could lead to a new United States war in the Middle East, tried to make clear Friday that Congress’s power of the purse should not be ignored.
“You can’t thumb your nose at members of Congress and then turn around and ask them to pay the bill,†a Republican Congressional leadership aide said.
