House Democrats Plan Split Vote on War Supplemental

"The leadership has not yet determined exactly how the votes will be structured — whether a bifurcated vote will send a single bill back to the Senate, or whether the House will vote on two separate pieces of legislation."

This quote from the following article leave more questions than answers. If it's not separate bills, what is it? Are these phony votes followed by a real one on the whole package? Or do they pass the war escalation funding and then vote on the other things as an amendment, or vice versa?

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CQ POLITICS NEWS
June 29, 2010 – 1:44 p.m.
House Democrats Plan Split Vote on War Supplemental

House Republican leaders made it clear Tuesday that they won’t support a supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan if it includes billions of dollars in added domestic spending.

In response, Democratic leaders plan to stage two votes in the House on the supplemental — one that focuses on the measure’s war funding, and a separate one on additional domestic spending the majority wants to add to prevent massive layoffs of local teachers, police and firefighters.

A divided majority caucus may not have the votes to pass a war supplemental without Republican help, because a sizable number of Democrats oppose further funding for conflicts.

The Senate passed its $58.8 billion version of the supplemental on May 27, but it is unclear whether the Senate would accept any new domestic spending beyond money for disaster relief included in its version of the legislation.

The leadership has not yet determined exactly how the votes will be structured — whether a bifurcated vote will send a single bill back to the Senate, or whether the House will vote on two separate pieces of legislation.

Democratic leaders hope to clear the supplemental this week, before Congress departs for its weeklong July Fourth recess. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says he needs the added funds quickly, a plea echoed Tuesday by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus during his Senate confirmation hearings to take command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“We need to get a supplemental passed as soon as possible,” House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio, said. “It should not be used as an excuse for tens of billions of dollars of additional social spending that will pile more debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren.”

Privately, Republicans say they expect House Democratic leaders to realize this week that the votes simply aren’t there, certainly not in the Senate, for a supplemental that expands domestic spending, even if that spending is paid for with cuts elsewhere.