House Votes to Bar Libya Ground Forces, Reject Accelerated Afghanistan Withdrawal

The House of Representatives resoundingly voted to prohibit spending any tax dollars on deploying ground forces in Libya and narrowly defeated a measure to speed up a timetable for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

In a 416-5 vote, representatives barred the use of public money for ground troops or private contractors in Libya. The vote reinforced a sense of uneasiness about the scope of America's commitment there. Although President Obama vowed from the beginning that there would be no boots on the ground, lawmakers have questioned whether Obama is breaking the law by failing to seek Congressional approval more than 60 days after America began dropping bombs on Libya, as is mandated by the War Powers Act.

A measure to more rapidly transfer authority from U.S. troops to Afghan authorities gained bipartisna support but still failed by a thin 11-vote margin, 204-215.