Reid backs Obama on Libya action, presses for Afghanistan troop drawdown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in an interview has backed President Obama’s assertion that continued military operation in Libya to oust Col. Moammar Gadhafi do not need congressional authorization.
Reid’s opinion differs sharply with that of Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) who believes that Obama now needs authorization under the War Powers Act to continue operations.
“The War Powers Act has no application to what’s going on in Libya,” Reid said on the PBS Newshour on Friday evening.
He said “we have no troops on the ground there, and this thing’s going to be over before you know it anyway, so I think it’s not necessary.”
Durbin on Thursday told reporters that the air war in Libya constitutes hostilities under the Act and Obam