Several senior administration officials acknowledged that some Republicans were joining Democrats in suggesting that accountability for the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal should reach into the Pentagon's senior leadership.
They point to a 2011 report from the federal Government Accountability Office that shows horse abuse and abandonment have been increasing since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for federal inspection programs in 2006.
The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers Christine Blower said: "This is quite an extraordinary abuse of position and power and confirms the NUT's fears about where the lack of accountability in academies can lead".