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Congress Faces Afghanistan Funding With Uncertain Objectives As President Obama and his top advisers consider their options in Afghanistan, the president's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill are in an awkward position. They say Obama needs time for that review. At the same time, the Senate is approving funding for the war without knowing troop levels, the strategy or the end game. And lawmakers' spending dilemmas are not limited to foreign policy. Last week they missed a deadline to pass a dozen annual spending bills. But they did manage to pass one — the one that funds Congress. Guest host Jacki Lyden talks with NPR congressional correspondent David Welna about what's ahead in Congress.

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< Congress Faces Afghanistan Funding With Uncertain Objectives

Congress Faces Afghanistan Funding With Uncertain Objectives

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JACKI LYDEN, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Liane Hansen is away. I'm Jacki Lyden.

As President Obama and his top advisers consider their options in Afghanistan, the president's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill say Mr. Obama needs more time to make a decision. Meanwhile, the Senate will be voting on a bill to fund the war without knowing troop levels, strategy or the end game.

Here to explain the latest from Capitol Hill is NPR congressional correspondent David Welna. Hi, David.

DAVID WELNA: Hi, Jacki.

LYDEN: So, David, how prominently has Afghanistan figured in the debate over the defense bill that the Senate will be voting on?

WELNA: Well, when you consider that this is the first annual defense bill to fund that war at a time when there were many doubts about what the U.S. is doing there, there's been surprisingly little debate about Afghanistan on the defense bill. Democrats are deferring to President Obama after he declared in August that this was a war of necessity, even though it seems that he now be tapping the brakes on efforts to escalate that war.

And to the extent that there's been any debate about Afghanistan in the Senate, it's been over the question of whether the top U.S. commander there, General Stanley McChrystal, should testify now or should testify later about why he thinks that as many as 40,000 more troops may be needed in Afghanistan.

The push that compelled General McChrystal's testimony, interestingly, came from President Obama's erstwhile election rival John McCain. But Democrats weren't about to let President Obama, in his series of meetings examining whether the strategy's right for Afghanistan before dealing with troop levels, get trumped by General McChrystal coming up here on the Hill.

So, Democrats defeated McCain's amendment. He in turn accused the Obama administration of bowing to pressures from the anti-war left wing of the Democratic Party. And the Senate is expected to go ahead, possibly on Tuesday, and approve the defense bill, including all the money for the war in Afghanistan, leaving the tough questions about where that war is going for later.

LYDEN: So, David, as I understand, the defense bill of course has a lot of earmarks in it, which President Obama had promised to end. What happened?

WELNA: Well, the big fight over earmarks in this defense bill has been over ten C-17 cargo planes that the Pentagon says it doesn't need. And the Senate wants to devote $2.5 billion to those planes. It's taking it from operations and maintenance for the Pentagon. And, again, Senator McCain was leading the fight against this one. And he seemed to be aligned with President Obama, who also said that these planes weren't needed, except that the President during his campaign had said that more C-17s would be good.

So, he sort of shifted his position. He has not issued a veto threat against this defense bill over that. And I think he's also picking his fights pretty carefully with the Senate right now because he's got health care to deal with still.

LYDEN: And speaking of that, it's making its very convoluted way through the Senate and the House. How's it all going to play out, do you think, in coming weeks?

WELNA: Well, we're going to get the Senate Finance Committee approving its version of the bill this week. Then that bill has to be merged with the Health Committee's bill. In the House there are three bills that have to be merged. Those will all come to the floors of the House and the Senate probably in the middle of October.

And, you know, the big question with the Senate bill is whether it will have a public option in it - a public option was defeated in the Senate finance deliberations. Then there's a question, also, beyond that, whether they will actually finish this by Thanksgiving, which is what President Obama wants. I'm thinking it's going to be more like Christmas before they get to that.

LYDEN: That'll be quite a present. NPR congressional correspondent David Welna. Thanks so much for coming in.

WELNA: You're welcome, Jacki.

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