By Perry Bacon Jr. and Ben Pershing – Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The House on Tuesday approved spending an additional $37 billion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, overcoming the opposition of some Democrats who have concluded that the Afghan conflict is unwinnable.
The funding bill, which passed 308 to 114, had stalled for two months as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers objected to the continuation of the war in Afghanistan and insisted that spending on the conflicts be accompanied by funding for domestic initiatives, to help Americans suffering from the recession. The domestic funding was stripped from the final bill.
The legislation was passed by the Senate last week in a voice vote, and it now goes to President Obama for his signature.
The disclosure Sunday of more than 91,000 secret documents about the war had little impact on the debate; most of the 102 Democrats who voted against the funding had already expressed doubts about the war in Afghanistan and Obama’s decision last December to add 30,000 troops there. They were joined by 12 Republicans.
The number of Democrats who opposed the funding was more than double the number who voted down a similar measure last year, illustrating the growing divide between Obama and members of his party about Afghanistan.