Barack Obama and his cabinet have launched a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill ahead of a vote, that will probably be held next week, on the White House’s request for Congress to authorise a punitive attack on Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons.
Mr Obama, who has had an often frosty relationship with Congress, has phoned key figures in both parties, and arranged to meet John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the hawkish Republican senators.
The lobbying effort is being led by John Kerry, the secretary of state, who, along with Chuck Hagel, the Pentagon chief, will appear before a hearing of the Senate foreign relations committee today.