“I don’t know of any other time when that has happened. That is a pretty shocking statement to the president about whether he should go on willy-nilly,’’ said David Skaggs, a former Democratic representative from Colorado who is cochairman of the war powers committee of the Washington-based Constitution Project.
The vote was not close: 295 votes against — including 70 Democrats, seven from Massachusetts — and 123 in support.
“For me, everything still turns on the basic tenet: I believe firmly that the Constitution requires any president to come to any Congress regardless of the party of either,’’ said Representative Michael E. Capuano of Somerville, who is also among a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers suing the administration over the operations in Libya.
A few hours after the vote, however, the House muddied its message when it also rejected, 238-180, a nonbinding resolution from Republicans that sought to restrict US involvement in the mission. Backed by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, the measure called for an end of funding for drone missile strikes and attacks by US bombers and fighter jets against Moammar Khadafy’s forces.
“It’s certainly a confusing message,’’ Skaggs said of the two votes.
The votes also demonstrate how, in the otherwise lock-step, hyper-partisan atmosphere of the 2012 House, the president’s decision not to seek formal congressional approval has splintered the chamber along nontraditional lines.
Joining Capuano in rejecting Kerry’s resolution supporting the president: Niki Tsongas of Lowell, James P. McGovern of Worcester, Stephen Lynch of Boston, John F. Tierney of Salem, William Keating of Quincy, and Barney Frank of Newton. John W. Olver of Amherst, Richard E. Neal of Springfield, and Edward J. Markey of Malden voted in favor of the resolution.
Capuano, Frank, and Lynch backed the GOP resolution calling for limiting Libya funds.
