Gates Warns Congress Not to Cut Off Libya Funds as War Powers Act Deadline Hits

You remember that 'limited timed, limited scoped, kinetic military action' that would 'last days, not weeks'. Well, it has now been 90 days since the War Powers Act was triggered and Obama has still not explained the action to Congress and has not withdrawn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110619/pl_nm/us_libya_usa

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Congress on Sunday not to cut off funding for U.S. military involvement in Libya and predicted that the operation targeting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces will "end OK."

Lawmakers question the legality of President Barack Obama's continued use of the U.S. military in Libya without the approval of Congress.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, last week said Congress could cut funding for U.S. military involvement in Libya, ratcheting up pressure on Obama.
...
The New York Times reported in its Saturday editions that Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided he had the legal authority to continue U.S. military involvement in Libya without congressional authorization.

The Times reported that key Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers concluded that the U.S. operations in Libya amounted to "hostilities." Under a U.S. law known as the War Powers Resolution, such a determination would have required Obama to end or scale back the mission after May 20, according to the Times.

That law was enacted in 1973 during the Vietnam War era.

The law prohibits U.S. armed forces from being involved in military actions for over 60 days without congressional authorization, with a 30-day pullout period. Boehner says these 90 days are up on Sunday."