US lawmakers headed into the weekend locked in an angry battle over spending cuts amid growing concerns that the world’s richest country may be headed toward a government shutdown.
After voting to block funding for US President Barack Obama’s health overhaul, the House of Representatives turned back a Republican proposal to withhold dues to the UN in a late-night session that ended early yesterday. The House, debating hundreds of spending proposals for the current fiscal year, voted 243-177 defeating the measure from Republican US Representative Paul Broun, who had said Washington’s yearly contribution was like throwing money down “rat holes.”
The chamber’s Republican leaders aimed to wrap up work yesterday on a spending package to fund the US government through Sept. 30, while slashing about US$60 billion in outlays.
In the closing hours of a bruising, round-the-clock debate begun on Tuesday, lawmakers invoked everything from US slavery to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and accused each other of laziness and legislative malpractice.
The US is the biggest contributor to the UN, paying more than US$2.5 billion to the UN peacekeeping and regular budgets last year.
Democratic US Representative Jim Moran blasted a Republican push for even deeper budget cuts, warning of “an economic death spiral.”
Republican US Representative Steve King pushed to block funding for Obama’s health overhaul, describing it as a spreading “tumor” and warning: “American liberty is being strangled off by Obamacare.”
The polarized House approved three amendments aimed at starving Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement of money to implement its provisions, by party-line margins of 239-187, 241-187 and 237-191.
Obama, weakened by election losses in November, has already threatened to veto the spending bill in the unlikely event that its deep cuts to foreign aid and domestic programs survive the -Democratic-controlled Senate.
PENTAGON NASCARS
Though seized by a cost--cutting spirit, US lawmakers spared some programs — notably voting 281-148 to reject a push by Democratic Representative Betty McCollum to bar the Pentagon from sponsoring NASCAR race cars.
They also voted 331-98 against capping Afghan war funds — but approved an amendment -stripping Planned Parenthood, a major US provider of birth control and -abortion, of funds by a 240-185 margin.
They also defeated a push to withhold money critical to settling a cotton subsidy feud with Brazil in a 246-183 ballot.
Since opening the debate on Tuesday, the House has also voted to scrap funds for a second engine for the F-35 fighter aircraft, restore money for police officers and firefighters, and eliminate funding for the US Institute of Peace, as well as the East-West Center — which Congress envisioned as a bridge to Asia.
They have also rejected an amendment to cut US$400 million from a fund to build up war-torn Afghanistan’s infrastructure, and another to eliminate the US$1.5 billion Iraq Security Forces Fund.
A current stopgap spending measure expires on March 4, and increasingly nasty verbal sparring and finger-pointing in the US Congress could lead to a failure to adopt a replacement, triggering a government shutdown.
The House and Senate are in recess next week, giving lawmakers a narrow window to agree on a compromise measure and making it increasingly likely that Congress will have to adopt a short-term spending bill.
However, Republican House Speaker John Boehner warned on Thursday that he would not accept any measure that did not markedly reduce spending — a step that, if rejected by the -Senate, would -trigger a government shutdown.
‘READ MY LIPS’
“When we say we’re going to cut spending — Read my lips: We’re going to cut spending,” he said.
Republicans have vowed to largely spare the Pentagon, and keep aid to Israel and Egypt intact, but said Washington needs to tighten its belt to deflate its yearly budget deficit and reduce its swollen national debt.
Democrats have broadly agreed on the need for austerity, but have denounced an array of cuts to foreign aid in the bill, warning that paring back the US Department of State’s funds could notably hurt the US’ efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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