Times staff writer
Senate debate on the $106.5 billion wartime and disaster assistance funding bill will include a bipartisan effort to pressure Iraq into forming a new government by threatening the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
There also may be a vote on whether the Senate has confidence in the continued service of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, though some Democrats warn that such a vote could backfire.
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and chief sponsor of the Iraq withdrawal amendment, is one of those cautioning against a vote on Rumsfeld.
The chances of the Senate passing a resolution, which would be nonbinding, that expressed a lack of confidence in Rumsfeld or even recommended his dismissal, are slight because Republicans control the Senate. As such, a failed no-confidence vote could be seen as an expression of Senate support for the embattled Rumsfeld, Levin said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was asked about a possible Rumsfeld vote during a Tuesday morning briefing for reporters on the Senate floor.
“I don’t think a no-confidence vote is warranted,” Frist said. “I have confidence in Rumsfeld. I have confidence in the progress that has been made.”
Levin, working with Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, is pushing an amendment to the supplemental bill that warns Iraq of the possible withdrawal of U.S. troops if two deadlines, both set by the new Iraqi constitution, are not met. One deadline is for the new prime minister, Jawad al-Maliki, to nominate a cabinet by May 22. The second is a deadline to recommend amendments to the Iraqi constitution within four months.
Both are important steps in Iraq’s political progress that could be missed unless pressure is kept on the government and prime minister, Levin said.
“There has been too much doodling in Iraq,” Levin said, adding that he believes Iraqis need a clear signal that the U.S. commitment is not open-ended.
If the two deadlines are not met, the U.S. needs to be prepared for a “prompt, phased withdrawal,” Levin said.
However, Reed, who serves with Levin on the armed services committee, said meeting the deadlines would reflect “remarkable progress” that would also allow planning for a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
“It is clear that the only thing that can produce significant change is continued pressure,” said Collins, an armed services committee member who also chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that has been studying Iraq reconstruction contracts.