Bush to Congress: Stay Through Recess to Pass DoD Spending Bill

ABC News’ Jennifer Duck reports:  For Congress, summer recess might not be as close as it appears.

On Thursday, President Bush told Congress to stay through the August recess, if need be, to pass the Department of Defense spending bill.

"Unfortunately they’ve been dragging their feet on these bills. They’re now getting ready to leave for the August recess without having passed a single spending bill," the president said to a Philadelphia crowd.

The bills the president was referring to are the twelve annual spending bills due September 30th.  Bush accuses congressional Democrats of adding billions to his proposed budget, but Democrats argue that issues like military pay deserve more than the Bush-proposed 3% increase.

Bush has threatened to make use of his veto pen if the budget that comes to his desk is so high it requires a tax increase.

"At a time of war, one spending bill should take precedence over all the rest," Bush said.

"We got troops in harms way. They need to exercise their responsibility and get this defense bill passed … I’ll hang around if they want me to, to get the bill passed."

[Bush typically vacations at his ranch in Crawford, Texas when Congress is in recess for the month of August.]