House Republicans To Rally With Bush On Iraq Funding

The entire House Republican Conference is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House on Thursday morning in what one GOP insider called an effort to rally the party behind the president for the upcoming showdown with Democrats on Iraq funding.

The Senate is preparing to pass on Thursday a $122 Iraq spending bill that sets a "goal" of having most U.S. combat troops out of the country by March 2008, while the House passed a slightly more expensive package that mandates an American withdrawal from Iraq by Sept. 2008, at the latest. Bush on Wednesday threatened to veto the bill over the withdrawal timetable and the added fund, which Bush called "pork" projects not needed on an emergency funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.

The meeting will start at 8 a.m., and Bush is scheduled to make a public statement afterwards.