Democrats May Deny Funds for Iraq Surge

Legislation that Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., proposed in the Senate last year would have implemented the 9/11 commission's recommendations at an estimated cost of $53.3 billion over five years.

Bush met with several members of Congress during the day, part of a series of meetings held in advance of announcing his new Iraq policy.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the president "understands there is a lot of public anxiety" about the war. Yet he said that Americans "don't want another Sept. 11" type of terrorist attack and it is wiser to confront terrorists overseas in Iraq and other battlegrounds rather than in the United States.

As commander in chief, Bush has wide constitutional authority to direct the military. Congress' principal power lies in its ability to control federal funding.

Yet the Democratic takeover in Congress means that for the first time since the war began, persistent critics of the administration's policy are in control in both the House and Senate.

"We ought to insist that the Congress and the Senate take action, so that before we're going to have a surge (of troops), the members of Congress and the members of the Senate will have an opportunity to speak on this issue," said Kennedy.

He noted that Congress could prohibit the money it authorizes for Iraq from being spent on a troop buildup. "It's something that's under discussion," said the Massachusetts Democrat.

Other alternatives have emerged in recent days, although several officials said Democratic leaders had not yet settled on a course of action.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, has suggested a limit on the number of troops that could be deployed to the war.

"It is time for us to announce we achieved our goals in Iraq and now the American people need to hand this responsibility over to the people of that nation in Iraq," he said.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a potential presidential candidate, said that while he opposes any measure that would increase the risk to troops already deployed, "the central question then becomes, is there a way of conditioning appropriations so that the president is constrained and that's something that we're investigating right now."

Other Democrats have discussed the possibility of forcing votes on nonbinding legislation calling on Bush to begin a troop withdrawal _ the type of measure that served as a flashpoint in the election-year debate over the war.

In addition, Democrats intend to require senior administration officials to run a virtual gantlet of hearings at which the war policy could be explored in great detail _ from the mission of the troops to alleged fraud in the use of funds to rebuild Iraq.

Officials said a few Democrats have discussed holding a fresh vote on authorizing the war, which Congress approved before Bush dispatched troops more than four years ago.

Bush's recent decision to name a new ambassador to Baghdad and shuffle the military commanders in the region will lead to Senate confirmation hearings.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said another option is to limit "a particular military program or effort." He offered no elaboration.