GOP Rep. warns don't make a Pelosi-like mistake on budget

GOP Rep. Michael Grimm (N.Y.) has a warning for fellow Republicans: Don't make a Nancy Pelosi-like mistake when it comes to funding the government.

In a statement Monday, Grimm warned that opposition to passing the three-week continuing resolution to fund the government would be taking the route then-Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) took in the last Congress.

“The extreme wing of the Republican Party is making a big mistake with their flat-out opposition to a short-term continuing resolution," Grimm said. "They’re not looking at the big picture, and the last thing we want to do is become like Nancy Pelosi in the last Congress, where it was 'my way or the highway.'"

Grimm said cutting a sufficient amount of government spending would be a gradual process and each continuing resolution that cuts spending brings Republicans closer to their goal.

"If we’re going to do what we set out to do, we have to set realistic expectations, and cannot bow to the extreme right or left," Grimm added. "Those views don’t represent what’s best for our country and they certainly do not represent the views of the majority of my district."

Congress is set to vote on a new three-week continuing resolution this week, which would cut $6 billion in federal spending. The current resolution funding the government expires after March 18. Both parties are negotiating a long-term measure to fund the rest of fiscal year 2011.

Conservatives have opposed the short-term solution because it does not contain riders defunding Planned Parenthood and the healthcare reform law and are worried that continual short-term bills are playing into Democrats' hands.

These conservatives want House leadership to push the Senate to accept the House-passed, seven-month spending bill that would cut an additional $57 billion from spending this year.

—Erik Wasson contributed to this report.

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