Boehner says House will Have Libya Resolution Friday

UPDATE: A GOP Congressional source indicates the House will consider two Libya resolutions Friday.

One will be the main GOP resolution to rebuke the president over Libya and ask for clarity in the mission.

The other will be the resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich that was pulled from the floor earlier this week. That resolution would force the U.S. to pull out of the NATO-led Libya operation within 15 days.

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House Republicans are expected to "rebuke" President Obama in a resolution on the floor Friday for not thoroughly consulting Congress on the use of war powers before engaging in NATO-led military action in Libya.

Both Republican and Democrats believe the president acted outside the purview of war powers and is certainly outside of that scope now.

However, the thought (at least among many Republicans) is that a specific withdrawal timetable goes too far and could have a negative impact on troops and NATO allies.

The Pentagon agrees. "Secretary Gates believes that for the United States, once committed to a NATO operation, to unilaterally abandon that mission would have enormous and dangerous long-term consequences," spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

That's one reason that a resolution drafted by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, was pulled from the floor earlier this week. GOP leadership was also concerned that they were letting a Democrat craft the resolution when it should have been a member of the majority.

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who is the head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Assembly, had planned to introduce a resolution that merely disapproved of U.S. involvement.

Even though Turner's resolution had 60 cosponsors, the general feeling was that the resolution was a de facto withdrawal order as well.

The issue facing Congress now is that if something bad happens (ala the "Black Hawk Down" scenario in 1993), Congress is responsible because it has not signed off on the operation, vetoed it or attached strings.

In addition to rebuking the president, the resolution will likely ask for clarity in the mission and threaten to hold off money for future operations without thorough Congressional consultation.

House Republicans have a meeting to discuss the issue with the entire GOP Conference later Thursday.

The resolution would have to go to the Rules Committee Thursday night if Republicans want to put it on the floor Friday.