House speaker backs giving president power to rescind spending
Speaker supports giving Obama the power to cut funding deemed wasteful from spending bills after they have been signed into law.
House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Friday she supports giving President Obama the power to rescind funding deemed wasteful from spending bills after they have been signed into law.
"It's something I certainly support," Pelosi said about the idea during her weekly news conference.
Her comments came after Obama sent Congress in May a proposal that would give him 45 days to scrub spending bills after they are signed and send back a package of rescissions that Congress must consider without amendment.
House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., subsequently introduced the proposal as a bill on Obama's behalf.
While Pelosi did not mention Spratt's bill, she noted the issue had been brought to her attention recently by Blue Dog Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho. He has introduced a bill that would give the president three days after signing an appropriations act to submit a list of proposed budget cuts to Congress, which they would be required to consider without amendment.
Pelosi said Minnick brought his measure to a recent freshmen meeting, where she suggested members signal with a show of hands whether they support it.
"I think that this is very important legislation. And so he's collecting sponsors for it, and it will have support in the House," Pelosi said.
Asked about her plans to bring such a measure to the floor, she said she wants to gauge the level of support in the Caucus.
"I like to see how the votes are going on it," she said. "But it's something I certainly support."
A similar proposal was introduced in the Senate this week by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
But some lawmakers -- including Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, -- do not support the idea on grounds it usurps Congress' power of the purse.
On another issue, Pelosi said Friday that a decision is to be made "pretty soon" by House Democratic leaders on whether to work with an Senate-passed supplemental war funding bill or mark up a House version that has some substantial differences.
Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Thursday a supplemental bill could reach the House floor next week, but Pelosi said Friday leaders are still "looking at what our options are."
Pelosi cited concern within the Democratic Caucus over the potential teacher layoffs. The $84 billion House bill would address that problem with a $23 billion add-on to the bill. But the $59 billion Senate version of the war supplemental passed last month did not include that amount for teachers.
Billy House contributed to this report.