House GOP sets Wednesday deadline for Senate passage of FY 2011 spending bill

Two House Republicans on Wednesday introduced legislation that attempts to enact $61 billion in GOP spending cuts for fiscal 2011 if the Senate fails to pass a spending bill by next Wednesday.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the bill would be taken up Friday, and is an attempt to prod the Senate into passing a spending bill. Republicans have stepped up their complaints about Senate inaction on a spending bill for fiscal 2011, and 30 House freshmen called out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for failing to lead on budget issues.

The bill, H.R. 1255, holds that "If the House has not received a message from the Senate before April 6, 2011, stating that it has passed a measure providing for the appropriations for the departments and agencies of the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, the provisions of H.R. 1, as passed by the House on Feb. 19, 2011, are hereby enacted into law."

The bill is largely symbolic, since the House cannot "deem" that H.R. 1 has the force of law without Senate passage of H.R. 1 or H.R. 1255, and the Senate is not expected to take up either bill.

H.R. 1255 was introduced by Reps. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) and Rob Woodall (R-Ga.).