The US Senate has for the first time approved a measure tying funding for the war in Iraq to a timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from the country.
The Democrat-controlled Senate rejected by 50 votes to 48 a Republican amendment to an emergency $120bn funding Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.
The amendment would have removed language from the bill imposing a deadline at the end of March next year for bringing US troops home.
The development has prompted the White House to threaten using the Presidential veto.
A final vote on the Bill is expected this week.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid said he hoped President George W Bush realised how serious the issue was.
