By KUNA,
Washington : Congress unexpectedly rejected a nearly 163 billion dollar war-spending bill on Thursday that would fund US troop operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year.
In a vote of 149-141 vote in the US House of Representatives, shot down the war funding measure that would have granted the Pentagon 162.5 billion dollars for war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, after anti-war Democrats and Republicans withheld support for the measure.
The Senate is expected to revive the war-funding bill next week.
The vote was over turned after a large group of Anti-war Democrats came out against the war funding budget, which was slightly less that President Bush’s request. At the same time, 132 Republican withheld their votes, accusing the Democratic majority of playing games by adding provisions for increased education benefits for troop veterans and extra unemployment insurance, by charging a surcharge on wealthy taxpayers.
The House did however pass two other components of the same bill, which called for troop withdrawals to start within 30 days, and be completed by December 2009, and a package of education benefits for returning soldiers.
President George W. Bush had earlier Thursday threatened to veto the bill over the troop timelines and what he calls as unnecessary domestic spending tucked into the measure.