WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday pushed a resolution condemning President Barack Obama for failing to give 30-day notice to Congress about the exchange in May of American prisoner Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The vote castigating Obama came at a crucial moment for the administration as it sought to rally international and congressional support for steps to combat the rising threat of Islamic state militants in Iraq and Syria. The debate and vote scheduled for late afternoon coincided with a White House meeting in which the president was to discuss his strategy with House and Senate leaders. It also came on the eve of Obama’s address to the nation.
“What poor timing for a resolution,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., suggested that the House vote on the measure less than two months before the election was simply an effort to appease core Republican voters.
Republicans insisted that Obama clearly violated the law, underscored by a Government Accountability Office report last month that reached that conclusion, and his disregard for Congress could not be ignored.