House passes bill to cut 5 percent of its budgets

The House on Thursday easily passed, 410-13, a bill to cut about $35 million from congressional office budgets this year. 

All 13 opposed to the bill were Democrats — Gary Ackerman (N.Y.), Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), John Conyers (Mich.), Keith Ellison (Minn.), Bob Filner (Calif.), Mike Honda (Calif.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill.), Jim Moran (Va.), Donald Payne (N.J.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Eldolphus Towns (N.Y.) and Lynn Woolsey (Calif.).

The measure will reduce office budgets by 5 percent while implementing a 9 percent cut for the House Appropriations Committee, a panel that will play a major role in finding ways to reduce spending in the Republican-controlled House.

"This year, the Appropriations Committee will be ground zero for a wide range of reductions across the federal government, and by cutting our own budget first, we are showing we’re willing to lead by example," Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said on the floor before the vote. 

The bill cuts $1 million from all House leadership offices, $8.1 million from committee budgets and a total of $26.1 million for members' offices, for a grand total of $35.2 million, according to the bill.

"This is a good starting point," bill sponsor Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said Thursday morning on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal." 

"That's just a start, and there are other things we'll find over time that the House Administration Committee will pursue."