The House and Senate this week are expected to pass pared-down versions of President Barack Obama’s $3.67 trillion budget, but most of the tough legislative work on achieving Obama’s ambitious agenda still lies ahead.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said his party was unified on the budget, despite public complaints from Democratic lawmakers about specific proposals and the overall scope of the spending.
“There is no split between the Democrats,” Reid said.
But part of what has made the budget viable is that the thorniest issues have been set aside for another day.
The congressional budgets — separate versions drawn up by the House and Senate — are more outlines than detailed spending plans.
They grew much more palatable to even the most vulnerable swing-state Democrats last week when the House and Senate cut domestic spending by $7 billion and $15 billion, respectively, and removed specifics such as the controversial cap-and-trade program and tax increases that were included in Obama’s budget.
Obama has put an unprecedented push behind getting the budget passed — airing television commercials and mobilizing volunteers door to door to pressure moderate Democrats to get on board. But even if the budget passes, the three major Obama initiatives — education reform, national health care and global warming fees — are far from guaranteed.
Congress will have to decide at a later point how the money is raised to pay for those proposals in what will likely be difficult battles. But their postponement made it possible for conservative Democrats to sign on.
Many of 49 members of the fiscally conservative House Blue Dog Coalition and about 18 Democrats who belong to a newly formed band of moderates in the Senate will likely vote for the budget, Democratic leaders say.
“The truth is, this is really not that out of line with past budgets,” said Blue Dog Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., defending its size.
But the way forward for the president’s hallmark proposals is less clear.
Obama’s global warming plan, for instance, is facing growing opposition from Democrats whose states rely on coal-fired power and manufacturing over fears of layoffs and price increases.
Obama’s health care plan is also controversial because it calls for raising taxes to pay for it. The House and Senate budgets include health care reform but do not specify how those revenues would be raised, and while the House budget stipulates a September deadline for legislation, the Senate plan has no timeline.
Dozens of Democrats are also opposed to Obama’s plan to raise $31 billion by taxing domestic oil and gas production, which is also absent from the congressional budgets.
Lawmakers say Obama is coming to grips with what he can and cannot control when it comes to the budget.
“The president hasn’t tried to manage the Senate, and he realizes he shouldn’t,” said moderate Democrat Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
