The political story surrounding U.S. military attacks on Libya will get a bit more juice today, as President Obama is now back at the White House after a trip to Central and South America.
While the White House schedule today does not include any public events for Mr. Obama, there is a meeting set for this afternoon with his national security team "to review our efforts in Libya."
That effort continues to draw fire from Republicans in the Congress, who say the President needs to better lay out what the goal is for the U.S.
"I and many other members of the House of Representatives are troubled that U.S. military resources were committed to war without clearly defining for the American people, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is and what America’s role is in achieving that mission," said Speaker John Boehner in a letter sent to the White House on Wednesday.
"It is my hope that you will provide the American people and Congress a clear and robust assessment of the scope, objective, and purpose of our mission in Libya," Boehner added, as he laid out a series of questions for the White House.
As of yesterday, White House officials were telling reporters on Air Force One that Mr. Obama was not considering a speech to the nation about Libya at this point in time, as officials sternly defended the President's decision.
"I think, first of all, it’s very important to point out that, in the first instance, this intervention was taking place to prevent an imminent humanitarian catastrophe, a potential massacre of thousands if not tens of thousands of people," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
Carney again said the U.S. was ready to hand off control of this operation soon.
"I think this is going to be a matter of days in which you see a movement towards a transition with regard to command and control," he added.
Those kind of explanations weren't satisfying critics in both parties, some of whom accused the President of committing a Constitutional Offense.
"I can only conclude that your order to United States Armed Forces to attack the nation of Libya on March 19, 2011 is in direct violation of the War Powers Resolution and constitutes a usurpation of Constitutional powers," said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA).
While Congress is not in session this week, Republicans are already prepping for hearings on the Libyan mission, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold one next Wednesday.
On the other side of the coin, more liberal groups were bombarding supporters with emails that blasted the idea of U.S. military action as well, saying it was time to tell Congress, "Not one dime for Libya."
