GOP Unveils Short-term Spending Cuts, Dems Try to Take Credit

As promised, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) unveiled Friday a short-term spending resolution to cut federal spending by $4 billion and keep the government funded through March 18 while a longer-term compromise can be negotiated. Government funding must be extended before the current continuing resolution expires on March 4, otherwise the government will shut down. Also as promised, in an effort to attract Democratic support for the measure, nearly all of the proposed savings are achieved through recommendations included in President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal, for instance, by terminating funding for a number of federal grant and subsidy programs, mostly in transportation and education, and by eliminating earmarks left over from the 2010 spending package.

And it seems to have worked. The response from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office was surprisingly supportive, considering that just two days ago Reid had dismissed the GOP proposal as “extreme” and a “non-starter.” Now, not only are Democrats “encouraged” by the proposal, they’re trying to take credit for the bill. “The plan Republicans are floating today sounds like a modified version of what Democrats were talking about,” Reid spokesman Jon Summers said in a statement. “We’re glad they think it’s a good idea.” Still, as of today, Democrats have yet to put down on paper any specific spending cuts they would support, and continue to insist, falsely, that they have “already cut” $41 billion form the federal budget.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) called on Senate Democrats to “put an end to political showmanship and work with us to pass this important measure.” Noting reports that Democrats were also considering similar spending cuts, Cantor added: “We welcome the news that [Democrats] are beginning to embrace the need to cut spending. . . . It shows how much Republicans are changing the culture in Washington.” But he challenged Democrats to embrace meaningful cuts, “not just minor efforts to trim around the edges.”

Does this mean a compromise is in the offing? Perhaps. In the face of increased scrutiny, Republicans have made abundantly clear that they wish to avoid a government shutdown, as have Democrats to a degree, though for the most part they have spent the last few weeks preemptively blaming Republicans for a shutdown, while at the same time failing to produce a single piece of legislation that would prevent one. Freshman Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R., Miss.), a member of the appropriations committee, tells NRO that Republicans have done their duty and now the ball is in the Democrats’ court. “We debated almost 80 hours over fours days and hammered out a bill,” Nunnelee says. “We did a responsible thing, now we’re waiting for the Senate to respond.”

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) urged Reid act quickly and hold a vote on the short-term proposal once it passes the lower chamber next week. “The House is doing its part to cut spending and avoid a government shutdown; it’s time for the Senate to take action as well,” he said. A Senior Republican senate aide tells NRO that the most likely outcome will be that the the House CR passes the Senate, as negotiations continue on a long-term agreement. “There are more than enough Democrats willing to go along with these cuts,” the aide said.

A closer look at what the short-term CR would cut:

— Terminates/cuts funding for eight federal programs, all of them singled out in President Obama’s 2012 budget as wasteful or unnecessary:

Election Assistance Grants ($75 million).
Broadband Direct Loan Subsidy ($29 million).
Smithsonian Institution Legacy Fund ($30 million).
Striving Readers program ($250 million).
LEAP student grant program ($64 million).
Even Start literacy program ($66 million.
Smaller Learning Communities program ($88 billion).
Highways – Additional General Fund spending ($650 million).

Total savings: $1.24 billion

— Eliminate funding for earmarks included in the 2010 spending resolution, broken down by category:#more#

Energy and Water:

$56 million – Army Corps of Engineers, Investigations
$341million – Army Corps of Engineers, Construction
$80 million – Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi River
$39 million – Army Corps of Engineers, Operations and Maintenance
$38 million – Bureau of Reclamation, Water and Related Resources
$292 million – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
$13 million – Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
$3 million – Nuclear Energy Research and Development activities
$37 million – Fossil Energy Research
$77 million – Office of Science – science research
$4 million – Defense Environmental Cleanup
$3 million – Other Defense Activities
$13 million – National Nuclear Security Administration – Office of the Administrator
$0.3 million – Nuclear Nonproliferation – equipment upgrades

Homeland Security:

$1 million – DHS Undersecretary for Management – logistics training
$1 million – Customs and Border Patrol Salaries and Expenses – solar powered batteries program
$43 million – Customs and Border Patrol Construction – facility construction projects
$1 million – Transportation Security Administration – National “Safe Skies” Alliance
$4 million – Coast Guard Operations and Expenses – Operations System Center
$17 million – Coast Guard Acquisition, Construction, and Improvements – shore construction projects
$4 million – Coast Guard – alteration of bridges
$20 million – National Programs and Protection Directorate – cyber-security and infrastructure projects
$5 million – Office of Health Affairs – bio-preparedness
$103 million – FEMA State and Local Programs – university and emergency operations center grants
$25 million – FEMA Pre-disaster Mitigation Grants
$41 million – Science and Technology – research projects

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education: