GOP wins first budget skirmish
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans won an early round Wednesday in their fight to shrink the government, pushing $4 billion in spending cuts through Congress in a bill that puts off the possibility of a government shutdown for two weeks.
Largely a spectator so far, President Barack Obama dispatched his vice president to initiate negotiations on a broader, longer-term spending bill and find "common ground" with GOP leaders determined to cut tens of billions of dollars more and undo much of his agenda.
He conceded in advance that any deal on a government budget covering the next seven months will feature cuts, not just the long-term freeze he proposed last month.
The Senate cleared the temporary spending measure by an overwhelming 91-9 vote after the House passed it with a large bipartisan vote Tuesday. Obama signed it Wednesday afternoon.
After initially being rejected last week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the two-week cuts written by House Republicans shot through the Senate with minimal opposition.
The upcoming talks, to be led by Vice President Joe Biden, promise to be far more difficult. Those talks could begin as early as today.
"This agreement should cut spending and reduce deficits without damaging economic growth or gutting investments in education, research and development that will create jobs and secure our future," Obama said. "It should be free of any party's social or political agenda, and it should be reached without delay."
Republicans who outmaneuvered Senate Democrats and the White House in orchestrating passage of the two-week measure called on Democrats to offer a longer-term solution of their own in response to a $1.2 trillion GOP spending measure that passed the House last month.
"It's hard to believe when we're spending $1.6 trillion more than we're taking in a single year, that it would take this long to cut a penny in spending, but it's progress nonetheless," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "It's encouraging that the White House and congressional Democrats now agree that the status quo won't work, that the bills we pass must include spending reductions."
House Republicans last month muscled through a bill that could cut spending over the next seven months by more than $60 billion from last year's levels - and $100 billion from Obama's request. It would also block implementation of Obama's health care law and a host of environmental regulations. The White House has promised a veto and it could take weeks to negotiate a compromise funding measure that Obama would sign.