Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reached a deal late Tuesday on a new resolution that would authorize force in a U.S. mission in Syria — with some limits.
The resolution is much more narrow than the broad draft resolution the White House sent to Congress on Saturday. According to Senate aides familiar with the resolution's text, it limits military action to a 60-day period with a potential 30-day extension, if President Barack Obama comes to Congress with a request for an extension.
It also specifies that no troops may be deployed in the mission.
"The resolution creates a limited and clear mission all directly related to Assad’s weapons of mass destruction, places strict time limits on the mission, and specifies that there be no ground troops," a Senate aide told Business Insider.
The committee is expected to begin debate on the resolution on Wednesday. After it is marked up and if it passes through the committee, as expected, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely schedule a vote for early next week.
"We will have to see as it works its way through the Senate," an aide said on chances of full Senate passage.
The condition to bar any "boots on the ground" in Syria comes after Secretary of State John Kerry awkwardly refused to rule out such a possibility during a committee hearing Tuesday— and then furiously spent time trying to walk back on his statement throughout the rest of the hearing.
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