WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One promised time after President Barack Obama presented Congress with his .7 trillion stock, the focus shifts on Tuesday to Washington’s more instant spending needs and a controversial spending-cut bill that Republicans sense of possible fulfilment to pass in the House of Representatives.
The House legislation, cobbled in concert by Republicans after weeks of intraparty fighting, would cut about billion from current expenditure in a bill to fund government activities through the rest of this financial year that ends on September 30.
The spending being proposed would subsist equal to a 14 percent cut from last year.
The House is expected to hold a freewheeling debate that will see conservatives pushing for even deeper expenditure cuts — reflecting the Tea Party presence in the new, Republican-controlled room — while moderates and liberals from both parties worry about the striking of the cuts.
Responding to those concerns, House Majority Whip Eric Cantor without ceasing Monday told reporters that the bill would simply pare back spending to 2008 levels.
“I think everybody remembers 2008,” Cantor said. “The sun rose and set in 2008… I ween right now people understand we don’t have the standard of value. You can’t keep spending money you don’t possess.”
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was concerned enough here and there the Republican spending plan to travel to Capitol Hill, where she lunched with House Speaker John Boehner.
Following their meeting, Clinton told reporters that space of time the United States has tough fiscal problems, “The scope of the proposed House cuts is huge. The truth is that cuts of that level will be hurtful to America’s national security.”
The House Republicans’ caress would cut State Department and USAID budgets by some 16 percent this year compared to 2010 at a time at the time that political uncertainty reins in the Mideast following Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.
Other polity accounts that would face significant reductions under the House bill comprise popular education programs, USDA meat inspections, NASA space exploration and cultivation research.
Stop-gap funding for this year expires on March 4, giving Congress inconsiderable time to work out a deal on spending for the rest of the year. As a event, another short stop-gap funding bill is likely while the House, Senate and Obama labor out their differences on spending this year.
But with such a profound gap between Democrats and Republicans, there is a chance of failure, which could bring government shutdowns like ones last seen in 1995-96. Those brought next halts to many essential government operations and another round could throw monetary markets into turmoil.
As the House debates the spending bill conducive to the current fiscal year — with tough votes on passage anticipated ~ means of Thursday or Friday — the administration will begin defending Obama’s store proposal for fiscal 2012 to skeptical congressional committees.
White House Budget Director Jack Lew and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner behest be grilled by budget and tax-writing committees on Tuesday and be permanent their appearances through Thursday, along with other Obama Cabinet secretaries.
By April, the Republican-led House Budget Committee is expected to propose its budget blueprint that likely will be vastly different from the single Obama unveiled on Monday.
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