By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff

The White House argued in a report delivered to Congress on Wednesday that U.S. military activities in Libya do not constitute the sort of engagement that requires congressional authorization.

But the Obama administration’s viewpoint appears to be at sharp odds with that of a number of critics on Capitol Hill, 10 of whom filed a lawsuit against President Obama earlier in the day for conducting an “illegal” war in the North African country.

Early reaction indicates that the report and the release of related administration documents will not do much to placate those critics in Congress.

In the 30-page report, the White House outlined its strategy and objectives in the NATO-led operation, now entering its fourth month. It also described the details and costs of its military activities and its justification for not seeking the explicit authorization of Congress before or after committing forces to the conflict.

According to the report, the president does not believe the military operations in Libya qualify as “hostilities” as defined by the 1973 War Powers Resolution (PL 93-148), which lawmakers have cited to demand that the White House seek their authorization. That law says that Congress has to authorize U.S. involvement in armed conflicts within 60 to 90 days.

“The president is of the view that the current U.S. military operations in Libya are consistent with the War Powers Resolution and do not under that law require further congressional authorization, because U.S. military operations are distinct from the kind of ‘hostilities’ contemplated by the resolution’s 60-day termination provision,” the report concluded.

No administration has ever acknowledged that they must abide by the law, which many legal experts, and even some on Capitol Hill, say is unconstitutional.

As one senior official explained to reporters just prior to the report’s release, “We’re not engaged in sustained fighting. There’s been no exchange of fire with hostile forces. We don’t have troops on the ground. We don’t risk casualties to those troops.”

The official added, “None of the factors, frankly, speaking more broadly, has risked the sort of escalation that Congress was concerned would impinge on its war-making power.”

‘The Beginning, Not the End’

The report and an accompanying set of classified and unclassified documents were compiled in response to a House resolution (H Res 292) passed earlier this month that demanded a long list of information on the use of U.S. military force in Libya and the strategy surrounding it, as well as a legal explanation for why the president has not sought congressional authorization.

Among the materials provided to Congress, according to the report’s cover letter, are “briefing slides, fact sheets and other material on the operations previously provided to relevant committees of jurisdiction; copies of the 32 update reports sent to 1,600 congressional staffers over the past several months; cost projections; relevant correspondence; transcripts; official notifications sent to the Senate and House; and other material.”

A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, the sponsor of the House resolution, issued a statement Wednesday evening saying the Speaker plans to review the information the White House has provided but “we . . . hope and expect that this will serve as the beginning, not the end, of the president’s explanation for continued American operations in Libya.”