Budget bill gets Congress' final OK
In all, 59 House Republicans broke ranks and voted no, promising larger battles ahead.
WASHINGTON - Congress voted Thursday to keep the federal government running through the end of September - but not before a struggle that saw both conservative and liberal opposition to the compromise spending plan painstakingly crafted by the White House and congressional negotiators.The vote in the GOP-led House was 260-167, with 59 Republicans breaking ranks with their party leadership to vote against the deal, which calls for $38 billion in spending cuts this year.
The Republican defections, a result of opposition from conservatives who said the bill did not do enough to rein in spending, forced Speaker John A. Boehner to turn to Democrats to help pass the bill.
The Senate then passed the bill, 81-19, again with most of the opposition coming from conservatives.
Afterward, the House, voting mostly along party lines, approved two measures - one to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood and another to roll back the 2010 health-care overhaul. As expected, the Senate rejected both.
Among the biggest cuts are $5.5 billion from labor, education, and health and human services budgets, $3 billion from agriculture programs, $1.7 billion from energy and water programs, $784 million from homeland security, and $2.62 billion from interior and environmental programs.
Congress itself will take a 5 percent hit, and will have to reduce office expenses.
The Pentagon will get a $5 billion raise over last year's funding.
The bigger impact of the plan approved Thursday is its meaning for the budget battles ahead.
The loss of 59 Republicans was not enough to torpedo the bill, but it was enough to put Boehner (R., Ohio) and his team on notice that fiscal conservatives will be in no mood to accept substantial compromises on coming budget votes.
The GOP leadership had hoped to avoid depending on Democratic votes to pass the bill, because party fissures could weaken Boehner in coming budget negotiations. But the bill would have failed without the Democrats.
With 217 votes needed to pass it, only 179 of the 241 Republicans voted in favor, as did 81 Democrats. (There were 217 votes needed for a majority, not 218, since the House has two vacancies.)
Boehner and his allies had worked for days to contain conservative criticism that the spending legislation was inadequate, falling well below initial Republican aspirations for $61 billion.
The vote was an agonizing one for many lawmakers - particularly the 87 GOP freshmen - who had made slashing federal funding the cornerstone of their campaigns. Some said they struggled with how to vote right up to the end. Eventually, 60 of the Republican freshmen voted in favor.
Complicating the decision was an independent analysis released Wednesday that showed the bill's immediate impact on government spending in 2011 would be minimal, with much of the $38 billion in reductions coming over time or from standing accounts.
Boehner and others scrambled to minimize the Congressional Budget Office's findings, hoping to stave off a conservative backlash that the deal relied on gimmicks.
"I just think it's total nonsense," Boehner said. "A cut is a cut."
"We wanted more cuts," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R., Ga.), a leading conservative.
But liberals such as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) warned there were already too many cuts. She said she voted "a big fat no."
The measure digs into an array of programs and services. Gone for the rest of the fiscal year is $600 million for community health centers. Foreign aid is cut deeply.
Also, contentious policy changes were tacked on, including one loosening protections on wolves in the West.
"It's shameful," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), who fasted with other lawmakers to protest cuts in programs for the poor. "Budgets are moral documents that reflect who we are as a nation. They're not just about dollars and cents."
The House on Friday is expected to consider a series of budget plans for fiscal 2012, the period that begins Oct. 1.
Most likely to pass in the House, where Republicans have a 241-192 majority, is a package written by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R., Wis.) that could cut $5.8 trillion from projected federal deficits over the next 10 years.
The Ryan plan would revamp the Medicare health-care program for seniors and the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. It would also reduce the top corporate and individual tax rates, now 35 percent, to 25 percent.
President Obama on Wednesday offered his own outline for deficit reduction.
He would cut $4 trillion from deficits over the next 12 years, mixing $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax hikes. He would end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest, and make no big changes in Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
Negotiators from both parties are expected to seek a compromise, starting next month.
But Thursday's vote sent signals from the conservatives who dominate the Republican Party and the liberals who make up much of the Democratic caucuses that they aren't about to move off their long-held positions.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) made it clear she was unenthusiastic about the 2011 spending plan.
"I feel no ownership of that or any responsibility to it," she said of the 2011 agreement, "except that we don't want to shut down the government."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky made clear he would oppose tax hikes in the next budget.
"The best way to bring down the debt and to create the climate that will lead to good private-sector jobs and prosperity is not to repeat the policies of the past but to change them," he said, "and that means cutting Washington spending, not squeezing family budgets even more."
Liberals countered they prefer fewer spending cuts for domestic programs, and more taxes on the wealthy.
And liberals don't want to include those cuts as part of an agreement on the nation's debt limit, which is expected to be reached sometime next month.
Republicans want cuts before they'll agree to raise the limit, now $14.3 trillion. Liberals say forget it.
"This is not a leverage point," said Rep. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) of the debt-limit extension. "This is a moral obligation."
Voting against the bill was Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.).
All area senators voted in favor, except Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Defunding the health law: Voting in favor were Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting against were Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Andrews
All area senators voted against, except Toomey.
Defunding Planned Parenthood: Voting in favor were Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting against were Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Andrews.
All area senators voted against, except Toomey.
This article includes information from the New York Times News Service.
The Republican defections, a result of opposition from conservatives who said the bill did not do enough to rein in spending, forced Speaker John A. Boehner to turn to Democrats to help pass the bill.
The Senate then passed the bill, 81-19, again with most of the opposition coming from conservatives.
Afterward, the House, voting mostly along party lines, approved two measures - one to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood and another to roll back the 2010 health-care overhaul. As expected, the Senate rejected both.
Among the biggest cuts are $5.5 billion from labor, education, and health and human services budgets, $3 billion from agriculture programs, $1.7 billion from energy and water programs, $784 million from homeland security, and $2.62 billion from interior and environmental programs.
Congress itself will take a 5 percent hit, and will have to reduce office expenses.
The Pentagon will get a $5 billion raise over last year's funding.
The bigger impact of the plan approved Thursday is its meaning for the budget battles ahead.
The loss of 59 Republicans was not enough to torpedo the bill, but it was enough to put Boehner (R., Ohio) and his team on notice that fiscal conservatives will be in no mood to accept substantial compromises on coming budget votes.
The GOP leadership had hoped to avoid depending on Democratic votes to pass the bill, because party fissures could weaken Boehner in coming budget negotiations. But the bill would have failed without the Democrats.
With 217 votes needed to pass it, only 179 of the 241 Republicans voted in favor, as did 81 Democrats. (There were 217 votes needed for a majority, not 218, since the House has two vacancies.)
Boehner and his allies had worked for days to contain conservative criticism that the spending legislation was inadequate, falling well below initial Republican aspirations for $61 billion.
The vote was an agonizing one for many lawmakers - particularly the 87 GOP freshmen - who had made slashing federal funding the cornerstone of their campaigns. Some said they struggled with how to vote right up to the end. Eventually, 60 of the Republican freshmen voted in favor.
Complicating the decision was an independent analysis released Wednesday that showed the bill's immediate impact on government spending in 2011 would be minimal, with much of the $38 billion in reductions coming over time or from standing accounts.
Boehner and others scrambled to minimize the Congressional Budget Office's findings, hoping to stave off a conservative backlash that the deal relied on gimmicks.
"I just think it's total nonsense," Boehner said. "A cut is a cut."
"We wanted more cuts," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R., Ga.), a leading conservative.
But liberals such as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) warned there were already too many cuts. She said she voted "a big fat no."
The measure digs into an array of programs and services. Gone for the rest of the fiscal year is $600 million for community health centers. Foreign aid is cut deeply.
Also, contentious policy changes were tacked on, including one loosening protections on wolves in the West.
"It's shameful," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), who fasted with other lawmakers to protest cuts in programs for the poor. "Budgets are moral documents that reflect who we are as a nation. They're not just about dollars and cents."
The House on Friday is expected to consider a series of budget plans for fiscal 2012, the period that begins Oct. 1.
Most likely to pass in the House, where Republicans have a 241-192 majority, is a package written by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R., Wis.) that could cut $5.8 trillion from projected federal deficits over the next 10 years.
The Ryan plan would revamp the Medicare health-care program for seniors and the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. It would also reduce the top corporate and individual tax rates, now 35 percent, to 25 percent.
President Obama on Wednesday offered his own outline for deficit reduction.
He would cut $4 trillion from deficits over the next 12 years, mixing $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax hikes. He would end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest, and make no big changes in Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
Negotiators from both parties are expected to seek a compromise, starting next month.
But Thursday's vote sent signals from the conservatives who dominate the Republican Party and the liberals who make up much of the Democratic caucuses that they aren't about to move off their long-held positions.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) made it clear she was unenthusiastic about the 2011 spending plan.
"I feel no ownership of that or any responsibility to it," she said of the 2011 agreement, "except that we don't want to shut down the government."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky made clear he would oppose tax hikes in the next budget.
"The best way to bring down the debt and to create the climate that will lead to good private-sector jobs and prosperity is not to repeat the policies of the past but to change them," he said, "and that means cutting Washington spending, not squeezing family budgets even more."
Liberals countered they prefer fewer spending cuts for domestic programs, and more taxes on the wealthy.
And liberals don't want to include those cuts as part of an agreement on the nation's debt limit, which is expected to be reached sometime next month.
Republicans want cuts before they'll agree to raise the limit, now $14.3 trillion. Liberals say forget it.
"This is not a leverage point," said Rep. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) of the debt-limit extension. "This is a moral obligation."
How They Voted
Budget bill: Representatives from the Philadelphia area who voted for the bill were Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), John Carney (D., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).Voting against the bill was Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.).
All area senators voted in favor, except Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Defunding the health law: Voting in favor were Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting against were Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Andrews
All area senators voted against, except Toomey.
Defunding Planned Parenthood: Voting in favor were Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Voting against were Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Not voting: Andrews.
All area senators voted against, except Toomey.
This article includes information from the New York Times News Service.
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