The US Senate has endorsed a March 31st, 2008, target date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq, prompting the White House to threaten a veto and moving Congress a step closer to a showdown with President George W Bush over the war.
By a vote of 50-48, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stricken the withdrawal language from a $121.6 billion bill that mostly would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With the outcome in doubt, Vice President Dick Cheney was on hand in the Capitol in case he was needed to cast a tie-breaking vote.
A final vote on the bill is expected this week.
Following the vote, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino cited "encouraging signs" lately in Iraq. "The president is disappointed that the Senate continues down a path with a bill that he will veto and has no chance of becoming law," she added.
But Democrats showed no signs of backing down.
"This war is not worth the spilling of another drop of American blood," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in pleading for the troop withdrawal plan included in the money bill.
Speaking to reporters following the Senate vote, Reid countered the White House veto threat, saying, "We would hope that the president understands how serious we are and the American people are and that, rather than making all the threats that he
has, let's work with him" toward a compromise.