GOP leaders try again to beat clock on budget-cutting bill
House Republicans' effort to push through measure cutting wide swath of government programs fell short last week.
Republican leaders will try again this week to sell a $50 billion-plus deficit reduction bill to some reluctant rank-and-file House members and will try to revive a plan to extend expiring tax cuts as part of the budget reconciliation process.
House GOP leaders lost a race with the clock last Thursday, coming up short of the necessary votes to pass the package before lawmakers headed home for Veterans Day.
But with the Thanksgiving break looming as early as the end of this week, the timing will not get any better for leaders trying to change the package to appease wavering members.
The inability to line up enough votes Thursday came on the heels of a late Wednesday decision to appeal to moderates by stripping language that would have opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.
The sweeping budget bill cuts across a wide swath of government programs, from government-backed pensions to farm subsidies, trimming the growth of Medicaid and raising revenues from sales of public lands to mining interests.
In such a broad package, there is something to upset just about every Republican member, threatening the ability of GOP leaders to cobble together a coalition large enough to pass the bill.
The Senate has already passed its version -- a $35 billion measure that impacts different areas of government programs, including Medicare. The Senate version also includes a separate provision opening part of the Arctic refuge to oil and gas exploration. The issue is certain to come up again in conference if the House passes a reconciliation bill.
Even without reconciliation, the schedule this week would be packed with money-related matters, including as many as four more fiscal 2006 appropriations conference reports.
Agreements are expected this week on Military Construction-VA and Transportation-Treasury bills. The Labor-HHS measure might also get done this week, although that bill is considered a heavy lift.
Congress is also under pressure from the Pentagon to wrap up the fiscal 2006 Defense spending bill, in part because of Pentagon concerns about funding military operations under a continuing resolution.