Lawmaker urges quick Senate action on wartime spending measure

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Monday pressed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to move fast on the supplemental war funding bill without domestic spending added in the House, in an apparent break with other top House Democrats.

"I am writing to respectfully request that you schedule a vote at the earliest possible opportunity on a Fiscal Year 2010 Supplemental Appropriations bill containing at least $37 billion for overseas contingency operations of the Department of Defense," Skelton wrote in a letter obtained by CongressDaily.

The Senate passed a $59 billion version of the measure in May, but the House altered the measure by adding about $16 billion in domestic spending. Republicans object to the added spending, putting the measure's chances in the Senate in question. Reid said Monday he wants to hold a cloture vote on the supplemental this week, and Democratic leadership aides have said the Senate vote would likely come on the House-passed version.

Other aides said Reid may be anticipating that the cloture vote will fail, which will show House Democrats that the votes are not there for their preferred version. That would set the stage for a vote on a version without the domestic spending, a portion of which has drawn a White House veto threat.

Skelton wants the Senate vote on such a "clean" bill, one Democratic aide said. That would put the Missouri Democrat at odds with House Democratic leaders, particularly Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. Skelton's committee has no direct jurisdiction over the bill, a spending measure.

Skelton urged "that the bill be constructed so that it can obtain broad bipartisan support in the United States Senate. The long-standing tradition of bipartisan support of the Armed Forces in times of war should continue to be our guide in this most critical of times for national security, and particularly in this critical hour for our ongoing operations in Afghanistan."

A Reid spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has also urged quick Senate action on the bill, and the Pentagon has developed a contingency plan in case Congress does not pass the supplemental before the August recess.