Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are applying fresh pressure on the Obama administration to draw down U.S. troops in Afghanistan faster than many military leaders say is responsible, forcing the president to balance his partys demands with his generals on-the-ground assessment as he nears another milestone in the war. When he announced his war strategy 18 months ago, President Obama set July as the point when he would begin bringing home the approximately 100,000 U.S. service members in Afghanistan. Administration officials have portrayed the reduction as just another planned step in the presidents strategy. But Sen. John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is among a growing number of congressional leaders urging Obama to take full advantage of progress achieved over the past 18 months by narrowing the missions focus. These lawmakers argue that, at a time of fiscal stress at home, the administration should concentrate on targeting al-Qaeda and protecting other U.S. security interests in the region, rather than on maintaining the broad military deployments across much of southern and eastern Afghanistan and the costly nation-building elements of the counter-insurgency strategy. This political push could force the White House to revisit a contentious internal debate that unfolded in fall 2009, when Obamas civilian advisers challenged the uniformed military over how best to change the course of a flagging war effort. But Obama is now making his decision amid a difficult reelection effort and when the killing of Osama bin Laden has made some lawmakers argue that the time is ripe to dramatically scale back the U.S. war effort. The president ought to take advantage of that success and push us in a direction that accelerates the ability of the Afghans to take over operations, said Kerry. Obama is awaiting a set of recommendations from his military commanders on how many troops to bring home in July and the pace of withdrawal over the months ahead. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who on Friday concluded an 11-day trip that took him to Afghanistan, could deliver Gen. David H. Petraeuss proposed options to Obama in the next week. The debates are going to be about the specifics of implementing the strategy we have embarked on. I dont really see why wed be focusing on revising it, said a senior administration official who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal White House discussions. The official said that there is huge pressure on the Taliban and that an Afghan-led political process that didnt exist before is taking some shape. Al-Qaeda is on its heels; bin Laden is dead. Right now, when we do these discussions, were looking at how do you sustain these gains and do the transition in a way that maximizes the chances of keeping the American people safe, the official said. But in recent weeks, a pair of high-profile proxies have emerged representing the two sides of the administrations internal discussion over the pace of the troop withdrawal Kerry and Gates. Kerry has called the wars $10 billion-a-month cost unsustainable, and on Wednesday, his committee issued a report critical of the economic assistance program that is a key part of the counterinsurgency strategys goal of bringing stability and government to parts of the country once controlled by the Taliban. A senior administration official said, Kerry is obviously someone who is respected here, and he would be heard, adding that others would be as well. In an interview, Kerry said that part of the struggle here is to get people here, my colleagues included, to focus on what is the objective. But Gates has said that Obama should move cautiously in removing troops from a battlefield where the gains, in the White Houses own assessment, remain fragile and reversible. Obama has relied on Gates as a trusted liaison to the uniformed military, and he ends his five-year tenure this month. I can tell you there will be no rush to the exits, Gates said Friday in a speech in Brussels. He went on to say that the vast majority of the surge forces that arrived over the past two years will remain through the summer fighting season. While White House officials say electoral politics is not a factor in the decision, Obama is campaigning for reelection next year at the head of a party deeply opposed to the Afghanistan war. Bringing home the surge troops by the end of the year would allow Obama to demonstrate to his party, particularly its liberal grass roots, that he is winding down the war in Afghanistan, just as he has in Iraq. Advisers say he will probably use his commanders recommendations as a base line to draw from, adopting some elements and coming up with others of his own, as he did in 2009. They say there is no timeline for the decision or for his speech outlining the path ahead, other than his commitment to withdraw the first surge troops before the end of July.