By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The budget-cutting deal negotiated last week by President Barack Obama and congressional leaders cleared a test vote on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, opening the way for passage on Thursday.
By a mostly partisan vote of 241-179, the Republican-controlled House approved the rules for debating the bill that would trim federal spending for the rest of this fiscal year by a record $38 billion.
'The vote on this legislation is an opportunity for members of Congress to make real and lasting spending reductions and show the American people that they are serious about reining in our deficits,' said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers.
If the House approves the legislation on Thursday, as anticipated, the Senate is likely to then debate and pass the bill by Friday. The measure then goes to the White House for Obama's signature.
Congress and Obama are on a tight deadline for approving the legislation because existing authority to fund the federal government runs out at midnight on Friday.
The legislation, hammered out after weeks of tough negotiations between Obama and congressional leaders, allows slightly more than $1 trillion in spending through Sept. 30 to fund an array of Washington activities, including border patrols, education programs, transportation, foreign aid and new enforcement controls on the U.S. financial industry.
The spending reductions from 2010 levels hit some Obama administration priorities hard: transportation programs, including high-speed trains, and Environmental Protection Agency programs.
WIDE RANGE OF CUTS
A wide range of other activities also would be cut, including science programs, U.S. contributions to the United Nations, food safety and inspections and border security.
The U.S. military, which already enjoys a budget of around $700 billion including war funds, would get a $5 billion increase.
This legislation marks the opening salvo in a fight that is likely to stretch through the November 2012 presidential and congressional elections over the scope and size of the federal government. That fight will focus on whether taxes on the wealthy should be raised, how social safety net programs should be reformed and how best to get control of a national debt that is steadily rising and is now nearly $14.3 trillion, roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy.
As the House was preparing to debate the spending-cut bill, Obama announced a series of new proposals for long-term spending and taxes.
The White House initiative is expected to kick off a series of negotiations with Congress that will also tie into a contentious debate over raising U.S. borrowing authority.
A $14.3 trillion statutory ceiling on government borrowing will be breached in coming weeks, according to the Treasury Department.
Also this week, the House is expected to vote on a fiscal 2012 budget outline offered by Republicans that aims to cut spending by about $6 trillion over 10 years and reduce deficits by about $4.4 trillion. Democrats have roundly criticized the plan for proposing significant cuts to federally-backed healthcare programs for the elderly and poor while giving more tax breaks to the wealthy.
((Full budget coverage, click on)) Keywords: USA BUDGET/VOTE (richard.cowan@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8391; Reuters Messaging; richard.cowan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The budget-cutting deal negotiated last week by President Barack Obama and congressional leaders cleared a test vote on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, opening the way for passage on Thursday.
By a mostly partisan vote of 241-179, the Republican-controlled House approved the rules for debating the bill that would trim federal spending for the rest of this fiscal year by a record $38 billion.
'The vote on this legislation is an opportunity for members of Congress to make real and lasting spending reductions and show the American people that they are serious about reining in our deficits,' said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers.
If the House approves the legislation on Thursday, as anticipated, the Senate is likely to then debate and pass the bill by Friday. The measure then goes to the White House for Obama's signature.
Congress and Obama are on a tight deadline for approving the legislation because existing authority to fund the federal government runs out at midnight on Friday.
The legislation, hammered out after weeks of tough negotiations between Obama and congressional leaders, allows slightly more than $1 trillion in spending through Sept. 30 to fund an array of Washington activities, including border patrols, education programs, transportation, foreign aid and new enforcement controls on the U.S. financial industry.
The spending reductions from 2010 levels hit some Obama administration priorities hard: transportation programs, including high-speed trains, and Environmental Protection Agency programs.
WIDE RANGE OF CUTS
A wide range of other activities also would be cut, including science programs, U.S. contributions to the United Nations, food safety and inspections and border security.
The U.S. military, which already enjoys a budget of around $700 billion including war funds, would get a $5 billion increase.
This legislation marks the opening salvo in a fight that is likely to stretch through the November 2012 presidential and congressional elections over the scope and size of the federal government. That fight will focus on whether taxes on the wealthy should be raised, how social safety net programs should be reformed and how best to get control of a national debt that is steadily rising and is now nearly $14.3 trillion, roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy.
As the House was preparing to debate the spending-cut bill, Obama announced a series of new proposals for long-term spending and taxes.
The White House initiative is expected to kick off a series of negotiations with Congress that will also tie into a contentious debate over raising U.S. borrowing authority.
A $14.3 trillion statutory ceiling on government borrowing will be breached in coming weeks, according to the Treasury Department.
Also this week, the House is expected to vote on a fiscal 2012 budget outline offered by Republicans that aims to cut spending by about $6 trillion over 10 years and reduce deficits by about $4.4 trillion. Democrats have roundly criticized the plan for proposing significant cuts to federally-backed healthcare programs for the elderly and poor while giving more tax breaks to the wealthy.
((Full budget coverage, click on)) Keywords: USA BUDGET/VOTE (richard.cowan@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8391; Reuters Messaging; richard.cowan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2011 AFX News
