A top House Republican on Monday said if Congress can’t end a standoff over how to slash spending for the remainder of the fiscal year, it could be accomplished in a series of short-term measures that make cuts in a piecemeal fashion. Congress appears close to striking a deal on the federal budget that would avert a government shutdown, but only until March 18. Republicans are also backing a larger bill that would reduce spending to 2008 levels for the remainder of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. But Democrats say those cuts — $61.5 billion in total — are too big.
A series of smaller bills, Republican Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam said, might have to be implemented.
“You keep walking down that line of thinking and you can get to ’08 levels in seven months,” the Illinois Republican said Monday. “You just have to do it a billion at a time.”
Republicans on Monday said they will take up a bill this week to provide funding for the government for the next two weeks, a move that would buy both parties additional time to cut a deal on spending for the remainder of the year.
The GOP’s two-week measure would reduce spending by $4 billion from current levels, mostly by eliminating earmarks and cutting programs President Obama excised from his 2012 spending request. The bill is expected to easily pass the House, and Senate Democrats have given the legislation a tentative nod, mostly because the cuts were already suggested by their own party.
Beyond the two-week measure, however, the two sides disagree on how much to cut from federal spending. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has refused to take up the House-passed measure with the $61.5 billion in cuts.
At a meeting with reporters Monday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., called on Reid to allow a vote on the bill.
“I would say that it’s important for there to be a full hearing in the Senate just like there was in the House,” Cantor said. “And I would suggest there may be a lot more people on Mr. Reid’s side of the Capitol that would be supportive of returning to ’08 levels than maybe he would like to believe.”
Several moderate Senate Democrats have told The Washington Examiner they would support some cuts in federal spending, depending on what is targeted for elimination.
Cantor said he does not want to fund the government in a piecemeal fashion, as Roskam suggested, but stopped short of saying the House GOP wouldn’t resort to another short-term plan to keep federal funding flowing.
“We are standing by our commitment that we don’t want to see a government shutdown,” Cantor said. “Because the American people don’t.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Senate Democrats this week have a chance to respond to voter anger over federal spending by backing the GOP’s short-term bill.
“They have an opportunity to show that the status quo on spending and debt is no longer an option,” McConnell said.
