House Democrats pass new Iraq spending bill - Bush to veto

May 10, 2007

Washington - The House of Representatives approved a $96 billion war spending bill Thursday night that would make continued funding of the war in Iraq dependent on a July progress report from the administration.

The House of Representatives approved a $96 billion war spending bill Thursday night that would make continued funding of the war in Iraq dependent on a July progress report from the administration.

The 221-205 vote sends the bill to the Senate, where Republican and Democratic leaders have been trying to work out a compromise with the White House.

The bill would send the Pentagon about $40 billion up front and require the Bush administration to report on the progress of the war -- and on the progress of Iraq's government in reaching a political settlement of the conflict -- in July.

The House would then vote on whether to release the rest of the money, which the Bush administration says is needed to fund the 4-year-old war through the end of the current budget year in September.

Earlier, Democrats narrowly beat back a Republican amendment that would have lifted the restrictions in the bill. Rep. John Murtha, a leading critic of the war, said the amendment would have removed any leverage the bill would give the United States over the shaky Iraqi government.