While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has no intention of letting the bill become law, the White House is worried about the political fallout of losing a vote on the House floor.

“They don’t want to be embarrassed,” a senior Democratic aide said of the last-minute White House push to corral Democratic support…

How divided are Democrats? At a meeting of the party’s leaders and its top committee members Wednesday, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave a clear endorsement of Obama. She said she would vote to authorize the Libya mission, which began in March with missile strikes from U.S. ships. But her closest ally in Congress, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), took issue with that position, witnesses said, arguing that the American public won’t put up with continued U.S. military commitment abroad in Afghanistan and Libya. One described Miller as jumping “down her throat,” though other sources contested that depiction and said his discontent was aimed at the White House…

Republicans are split, too. Some say they’re uncomfortable with the Rooney bill because it prohibits spending on combat operations but explicitly exempts many current U.S. activities — such as intelligence-gathering and search-and-rescue missions — from the ban. Others don’t like the idea of Congress restraining the president’s authority to conduct military operations.