Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spent Friday lobbying hard to make sure the war supplemental has enough Democratic votes to squeak by when the House votes on it next week.

“We don’t have the votes yet,— House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) said.

“Nancy’s working it right now. She’s trying to get the votes right this minute. I just heard her talking to a couple of Members,— Murtha said. “It’s going to be a very close vote.—

The supplemental faces opposition from a bloc of 51 anti-war Democrats and, potentially, from all Republicans, who oppose the bill’s billions in spending for the International Monetary Fund. All combined, those lawmakers have enough votes to block the bill.

The Democrats opposed to the bill are “the same bloc of people— who always vote against funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Murtha said. “It’s war funding, and they don’t like the war.—

Murtha speculated that some Republicans may ultimately vote for the supplemental since the alternative is being on record voting against funds for the troops—and doing so for “pretty flimsy reasons.—

“Their leadership has pretty well got them cornered to vote against the bill, so we’ll have to count on Democrats to pass it,— said the Pennsylvania Democrat. “But I think it’s going to be very hard for them to vote against this bill. Very hard.—