The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved a US$819 billion stimulus bill on Wednesday night, offering an early legislative victory in Barack Obama’s presidency even though he failed to win over Republican support.
Obama has been hammering economic themes, but despite his efforts to reach across party lines, he was unable to sway the opposition in the first test of his bipartisanship goals. The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimously opposed.
With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter of a century, the banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said the legislation was desperately needed, while Republicans argued the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much spending.
“This recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years,” the president said in a written statement released moments after the House voted. He later welcomed congressional leaders of both parties to the White House for drinks as he continued to lobby for the legislation.
Earlier, Obama declared: “We don’t have a moment to spare,” as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The increasingly troubled economy is the first major test of Obama’s presidency. How he handles the volatile situation, and the effect of his stimulus package on the economy, could set the tone for his first year in office, if not his entire term.
The vote sent the bill to the Senate, where debate could begin as early as Monday on a companion measure already taking shape.
Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama’s signature by the middle of next month.
Republican House leader Representative John Boehner said the measure “won’t create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects through slow-moving government spending.”
A Republican alternative, comprised almost entirely of tax cuts, was defeated 266-170.
On the final vote, the Democratic legislation drew the support of all but 11 Democrats, while all Republicans opposed it.
The president had earlier said he understood skepticism about the size of the stimulus package, “which is why this recovery plan will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my administration accountable.”
He said Americans would be able to follow the spending on a new Web site, www.recovery.gov.
Before the House vote, at his first Pentagon briefing as president, Obama heard the opinions of the four US military service chiefs in a next step toward fulfilling his promise to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.
The chiefs are among those in the Defense Department hierarchy who have expressed misgivings about the impact that long, repeated war tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on the US military. The chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president’s senior uniformed military advisers, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates attended the briefing.
Emerging from the meeting, Obama said that his administration faces “difficult decisions” about Iraq and Afghanistan. But the new commander-in-chief offered no further details about his plans.
“We’re going to have some difficult decisions that we’re going to have to make surrounding Iraq and Afghanistan,” Obama said.
Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama’s process was deliberate as he moves toward changing the mission in Iraq.
Defense officials have said they can meet Obama’s campaign pledge, but several have suggested that a fast withdrawal could upset the fragile security now in Iraq.
Much of Obama’s briefing was expected to have centered on the fight in Afghanistan and how Obama’s plans to add forces and resources there will depend in part on the success of the Iraq exit.
Meanwhile, Obama moved a step closer to having a full Cabinet as the Senate confirmed Dennis Blair as the new national intelligence director and a Senate committee confirmed the nomination of Eric Holder as attorney-general.
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