In his press conference this morning, the President defined the limits of his tolerance on the Iraq war supplemental: $108 billion. More than that, he says, and Congress can expect a swift veto. Since this supplemental is potentially to include science spending, and needs bi-partisan support to even get the the President’s desk, I was concerned when I saw this today:
“Democrats will meet throughout the week to hash out their strategy, and
they insist that Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have not yet made
any final decisions about how to handle what’s likely to be the last
Iraq funding debate of the Bush presidency. But Republican and
Democratic appropriations staffers say Pelosi’s office is seriously
considering skipping over their committee to take a $178 billion war
funding bill — $70 billion more than the president wants — straight to
the House floor.” [1]
If the House pulls this, unless the Senate can restrain the process the supplemental will likely face a veto from the President. The possibility of including science spending in such a bitter bill waorries me more and more.
