Republicans Propose Budget Stopgap, Reducing Risk of a Federal Shutdown
By CARL HULSE
Published: February 25, 2011
WASHINGTON — The prospect of an imminent federal government shutdown diminished Friday as House Republicans proposed a carefully calibrated stopgap measure that Democrats said could be acceptable.
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While the measure, which will be considered by the House and Senate next week, represents only a reprieve, it showed that both Republicans and Democrats were interested in easing the political tensions around the budget showdown.
As they adjust to the new power structure on Capitol Hill, both sides have said they hope to avoid an impasse that could shutter federal agencies. To make it harder for Democrats to object to the temporary plan, Republican architects of the proposal tried to make the cuts relatively painless.
They came up with the $4 billion by ending eight education, transportation and other programs that President Obama had previously sought to close down, a savings of almost $1.2 billion. They also reclaimed nearly $2.8 billion set aside for earmarks in the current budget; both the House and Senate have agreed to ban such pet projects.
“We hope the Senate is going to finally join us in these common-sense cuts to keep the government open and not continue to play chicken,” said Representative Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican and majority leader.
Senate Democrats indicated they would be willing to go along with the proposal despite their insistence earlier this week that any temporary measure should be free of spending reductions. They had portrayed such a maneuver as a back-door way for House Republicans to begin enacting $61 billion in cuts that have met objections in the Senate.
“We are encouraged to hear that Republicans are abandoning their demands for extreme measures like cuts to border security, cancer research and food safety inspectors,” said Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader.
If approved, the measure would buy time for more talks on the depth of spending cuts.
If the House and Senate do not reach a deal by March 18 under the latest proposal, they will once again face the prospect of closing federal agencies or be forced to enact another temporary extension.
Republicans said their willingness to fashion a measure that involved relatively uncontroversial cuts and was free of the more ideologically charged provisions included in the $61 billion plan showed that they were sincere when they said their main interest was reducing spending, not shutting down the government.
“This is to get the government moving forward but to cut spending in government,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 3 Republican. “I don’t see how Democrats can’t take these basic steps toward reining in government while keeping our government operational.”
But Democrats said their efforts to raise the alarm about a possible shutdown due to Republican demands for deep cuts in a variety of federal agencies had paid off. They said Republicans instead chose to advance a temporary measure with the same kind of spending trims that Democrats had been advocating.
"They feared a government shutdown, and so they are adopting some of our suggestions on what to cut," said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate.
The House is expected to approve the temporary measure on Tuesday, leaving a few days for the Senate to act and send a measure to President Obama before the current stopgap bill expires at midnight Friday. The time frame leaves little opportunity for the Senate to alter the measure and send it back to the House.
Senate Republicans said Democrats had few good options with the clock ticking and encouraged them to accept the bill and move on to the negotiations over the broader spending legislation as well as the budget for 2012.
“By supporting the House bill, our friends on the other side of the aisle will have the chance to ensure that the government remains operational while we work with them to identify additional ways to shrink Washington spending this year,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
Striking a final deal will not be easy. Democrats contend that the $61 billion cut by the House in its marathon floor debate earlier this month reaches far too deeply into essential federal programs and strikes out at favored Obama administration initiatives like the new health care law. Senate Democrats have begun assembling their own package of cuts and expect to bring it forward next week as an alternative to the Republican plan.
At the same time, the new House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, has little room for negotiation given the insistence by his rank and file, including 87 newly elected Republicans, on standing firm on the $61 billion in reduced spending that has already cleared the House.
But both sides agree that federal agencies face some level of significant spending cuts from the budgets they are currently operating under, a result that could cause some disruptions.
