United States President Barack Obama will push for additional funding from Congress, to support his plan of training and arming rebel groups in Syria. At the same time, he would be seeking support for expanded U.S. air strikes, this time against Islamic State targets inside Syria.

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These steps are expected to be in the forefront of an expanded political and military effort that Obama will outline Wednesday in a televised address from the White House.

White House officials and senior Democrats in congress spent the day calling their colleagues in both Houses to seek support for the president's plan. Obama himself spent an hour Tuesday discussing with leaders of congress what he intends to do about the situation in Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State militants continue to threaten innocent civilians and Western journalists and aid workers.

Administration officials say Obama could move on with most of the elements of his plan, including wider-ranging air strikes against IS extremists not only in Iraq but also in Syria, without having to seek approval from congress. The other elements include expanded cooperation with European and Middle Eastern partners who have committed to provide help when called upon.

Training and arming more moderate Syrian rebels will have a double purpose - defeating Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and crushing - and punishing - the Islamic State operating in Syria, which have executed two American journalists in a span of a few weeks. Earlier this year, Obama sought a US$500 million train-and-equip program for this purpose, but the plan stalled in Congress.

This time, it looks like Republican leaders would support Obama's anti-Islamic State plan. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said he was postponing a scheduled vote on a stopgap measure to keep the government running after September 30, to give lawmakers time to consider the president's strategy. GOP members have been advised that there will be an all-House briefing Thursday morning on the authorities being sought by Obama.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Hal Rogers (R., Ky.), said the president phoned him on Tuesday night to personally ask that the government funding bill be altered to include language authorizing money for the train-and-equip program for Syrian rebels.

Senate Democrats meanwhile are reportedly drafting legislation that would give Obama the authorities he needed to respond to the continuing IS threat. Both chambers have reportedly given themselves a two-week window to act on Obama's plan. 

TagsFree Syrian Army, ISIS