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New
York Times...
House Passes Spending
Bill, but Not Happily
By Carl Hulse
March 15, 2011
Editor's Note: On
Thursday, March 17, the Senate also approved the Spending Bill.
WASHINGTON — The House gave grudging approval on Tuesday to a plan to
finance the federal government for three more weeks, even as dozens of
Republicans broke with their leadership and opposed the stopgap
legislation.
Congressional leaders said the measure, which imposes $6 billion in new
spending cuts, would avert a government shutdown while giving
Republicans and Democrats until April 8 to conclude a more sweeping
budget deal to finance the government through Sept. 30.
“Our goal is to cut spending and keep the government open and meet our
commitment to the American people to bring fiscal responsibility to
Washington,” Speaker John A. Boehner said.
Though the legislation had the strong support of Mr. Boehner and his
top lieutenants, more than 50 members of the Republican rank-and-file
opposed it, including 21 of the 87 Republican freshmen. The opponents
said they were ready to force a showdown over spending cuts and accused
Democrats of stalling a final resolution.
“While I believe reasonable minds can differ,” said Representative Trey
Gowdy, a freshman Republican from South Carolina, “I think my
constituents want a quicker pace.”
Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, put it bluntly: “It
is time to pick a fight.”
On the final vote of 271 to 158, 186 Republicans and 85 Democrats
supported the budget extension; 54 Republicans and 104 Democrats
opposed it.
The defections suggest that the House leadership could have difficulty
selling a final budget compromise to its membership if the plan dips
very far below the $61 billion in cuts approved by the House and does
not contain policy restrictions on abortion, the new health care law
and environmental rules that many House Republicans favor.
Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat,
said the number of Republicans who balked at the measure should lead
top Republicans to seek a final compromise they can pass with votes
from both Republicans and Democrats rather than try to produce the
votes from their own ranks.
“We now see clearly that the problem that we have is the Republican
majority does not agree with itself,” Mr. Hoyer said.
Republicans and Democrats have so far held halting negotiations on the
final level of spending cuts with little obvious progress, but talks
have been occurring behind the scenes between House and Senate leaders.
At the White House, the spokesman, Jay Carney, said, “The short-term
funding bill passed in the House of Representatives today gives
Congress some breathing room to find consensus on a long-term measure
that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year.”
But Mr. Carney added that President Obama had made clear that “with the
wide range of issues facing our nation, we cannot keep funding the
government in two- or three-week increments.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle joined the president in calling
for the new stopgap measure to be the last of the temporary budget
bills. Once Congress finishes this fight, it must immediately begin
considering a budget and spending bills for the 2012 fiscal year.
Lawmakers also face a serious clash over the administration’s request
to increase the federal debt limit.
“Let’s pass this, move ahead and get this thing done,” Representative
Ander Crenshaw, Republican of Florida, said.
Republican supporters of the legislation urged their colleagues to
approve one last interim measure. They noted that the bill cuts $6
billion in current spending on top of $4 billion in reductions imposed
in the previous two-week budget bill that expires Friday.
“We will have cut over $10 billion in the span of two weeks,”
Representative Harold Rogers, the Kentucky Republican who is chairman
of the Appropriations Committee, said. “That sets a record. That has
never been done before in this body.”
“Take ‘yes’ for an answer,” said Representative Charlie Dent,
Republican of Pennsylvania. “Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of
victory.”
Senate leaders predicted that the Senate would approve the measure
later this week despite mounting conservative resistance in that
chamber as well.
Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah Republican who could face a Republican
challenge for re-election next year, announced on Tuesday that he would
oppose the bill. “Enough is enough,” Mr. Hatch said. “We need a
long-term plan to force our government to live within its means, just
like Utah families do.”
The short-term measure saves $3.5 billion by eliminating 25 programs,
including some the Obama administration had already proposed to end on
its own. More than $2 billion is saved by reclaiming money set aside
for local projects that will not be financed because of the
Congressional ban on earmarks.
Republicans and Democrats traded blame for which side was most
responsible for the muddled fiscal state of affairs. Republicans noted
repeatedly that they inherited the problem from Democrats who did not
pass a budget or the required spending bills last year; Democrats said
Republicans were pushing unacceptable cuts.
Both sides agreed it was a mess.
“It’s a terrible way to do business,” said Representative James P.
Moran, Democrat of Virginia.
Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting.
Read it at The New York Times
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