The funding for the troops passed

"I think the handwriting is on the wall that we are going in a different direction in the fall and I think the president is going to lead it," he said.

McConnell said he expects Bush announce his intentions on his own timetable.

The legislation that cleared Congress late Thursday night marked the end of a struggle in which Bush rejected an earlier bill because it contained a troop withdrawal timetable.

The White House said it expected to receive the replacement measure Friday afternoon and that Bush would sign it — privately, with no fanfare other than a written announcement — as soon as it arrived from Capitol Hill.