On Friday, the House Committee on Appropriations introduced a revised continuing resolution containing $4 billion in agency spending reductions, of which $2 billion will be taken from Environmental Protection Agency programs.
House Appropriations Committee chairman Hal Rogers said while they prefer that the Senate work with them on passing the $100 billion cut in the 2011 national budget which they passed earlier, the House is amenable to lower budget cuts.
“This short term, two-week C.R. will provide more time, while cutting $4 billion in spending as a symbol of our continued commitment to getting our nation’s fiscal house in order,” Mr. Rogers said.
In the revised resolution, earmark cuts would include $292 million from energy efficiency and renewable energy; $77 million from the Office of Science for science research; $38 million from the Bureau of Reclamation, Water and Related Resources; $37 million for fossil energy research; $13 million from electricity delivery and energy reliability projects; $13 million from the National Nuclear Security Administration; $4 million from environmental cleanup; $3 million from nuclear energy research and development; and $300,000 from nuclear equipment upgrades.
The Senate is receptive to the House-introduced two-week revised continuing resolution that closely resembles the cuts that it has called for.
“The plan being floated by the Republicans today sounds like a modified version of what Democrats were talking about. We are encouraged to hear that Republicans are abandoning their demands for extreme measures like cuts to border security, cancer research, and food safety inspectors,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman, Jon Summers.
Mr. Summers added that a unified continuing resolution should be passed immediately to ensure spending continuity. “If we need a little more time to agree on a responsible path forward, we should pass a short-term C.R. for no longer than the next month.”
The continuing resolution contains funding to allow all government agencies and programs to continue operating at the current level of spending for the next two weeks, except for several programs that will be terminated or cut. It is scheduled to be on the House floor on Tuesday next week.
Washington will run out of money on March 4 and a government-wide shutdown will occur if no agreement among the House, the Senate and the White House is reached by March 18.
