COUNTING THE VOTES – “New Senate Syria plan limits President Obama,” by John Bresnahan, with Jonathan Allen and Reid J. Epstein: “Senate leaders are working on a revised resolution authorizing U.S. strikes in Syria that puts President Obama on a short leash … But whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can find the 60 votes he will need to overcome an expected filibuster of the new Syria proposal is still far from clear. Aides to Reid and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) have set aside a proposed Syria resolution submitted by the White House on Saturday night. That draft resolution — developed without congressional input — is seen as far too broad … Some of the options being considered … include a 60-day period for Obama to launch ‘narrow, limited’ strikes against Assad’s regime with the potential for a 30-day extension … Language barring the insertion of U.S. ground troops — but crafted to allow special forces operations or the rescue of a downed American flier, for instance — is also being considered … And Obama would be prohibited from making the toppling of Assad’s government the goal of any U.S. military effort in Syria …
“The revisions are designed to win broad bipartisan backing from senators who are on the fence over whether to back a Syria campaign … While the revised resolution has not been shared with them yet, White House aides say they are willing to work with Congress and believe it is likely that the edits … are the kind of changes that the president will be able to live with. … Since Obama is going to Congress with a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria rather than ordering military strikes first and then informing Congress, as required under the War Powers Act, the use-of-force proposal will be fully debatable and amendable. Under the War Powers Act, a use-of-force resolution would face only limited debate and require a simple majority vote. The revised proposal can be filibustered by those opposed to any U.S. involvement in Syria’s two-year-old civil war, meaning Reid will need 60 votes to overcome opposition to the measure.
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