Obama faces Syria test as House holds 1st hearing

September 4, 2013 at 10:06a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is facing a tougher examination of its plans for military intervention in Syria, squaring off against tea party Republicans and other skeptical House members a day after gaining Speaker John Boehner’s endorsement and significant support in the Senate. With President Barack Obama in Europe, his top national security aides were to participate today in public and private hearings at the Capitol to advance their case for limited strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in retaliation for what the administration says was a deadly sarin gas attack by his forces outside Damascus last month.