Budget

The Senate Budget Committee in a strictly party-line vote on Tuesday gave its consent to President Obama's pick to be the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Ten Republican members voted against Heather Higginbottom's nomination, while 11 Democrats voted in favor.

Ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) blasted Higginbottom during her confirmation hearing last month, arguing that she is not qualified for the job of overseeing the federal budget. He also used the occasion to criticize Obama Budget Director Jack Lew for what he said were distorted representations of Obama's 2012 budget request.

“I am pleased the Budget Committee voted today to confirm Heather Higginbottom as the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Ms. Higginbottom’s service in the White House and the Senate has given her a broad knowledge of federal policy and the operations of the government. She was also personally selected by Director Lew as the person he wants as his deputy. Director Lew needs and deserves to have the Deputy Director of his choice working with him at OMB," committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said in a statement. 

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said Tuesday that Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal offers "simply suggestions" on what to include the next farm bill, making clear his committee will have final say on what that legislation looks like.

Lucas offered kind words for Ryan's newly unveiled proposal, calling it the "first serious step in reining in our deficit," but noted in his statement that he "might not agree with every proposed cut."

He added that the farm bill falls under his committee's jurisdiction, and its members will ultimately decide what's in the legislation.

Ryan: Fact that his plan wouldn't balance the budget "just shows you how deep a hole our country is in."

Cantor speaks while Speaker John Boehner attends a meeting with President Obama on spending.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) makes the case for the GOP budget.

The Obama administration continues to prep for a government shutdown, while working to avoid it.

China's central bank hiked interest rates for the fourth time in six months.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continued to downplay the risk of inflation in a speech Monday night.

The Fed made emergency loans during the financial crisis to over 100 banks that ultimately failed.

About four out of five IRS audits are now done by mail.

TUESDAY’S BIG STORY:

The budgets for 2011 and 2012 will be forced to share center stage on Tuesday.

Come morning, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is set to unveil his chamber's GOP’s budget resolution for the next fiscal year. 

Some leaks and the chairman’s own statements have told us that the 2012 GOP plan will propose block-granting Medicaid and changing Medicare from a defined benefit program to a defined contribution toward private insurance. The plan is also expected to cap overall spending as a percentage of the economy and cut deficits by between $4 trillion and $6 trillion over 10 years, without increasing taxes.

At high noon, Ryan plans to try and lay out all of this to an audience at the American Enterprise Institute.

While a growing number of those asked in a recent poll would fault Republicans for a government shutdown, there's still plenty of blame to go around as most respondents support lawmakers reaching a compromise even if they don't like it.

In a poll released Monday, 39 percent say Republicans would be more to blame if the GOP and Democrats can't reach an agreement by the end of the week on a federal budget plan that would get the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.  

Right behind Republicans is the Obama administration -- 36 percent say they would be at fault while 16 percent would blame both sides, according to a poll released Monday by Pew Research Center for People and the Press. 

As tensions grew on Monday, the Blue Dog Coalition urged congressional leaders and the White House to continue negotiations on a long-term budget plan to avoid a government shutdown. 

The fiscally conservative group of Democrats sent a letter to President Obama on Monday urging Democrats and Republicans to work together to wrap up this year's budget, while House GOP leaders expressed growing frustration over the process. 

"We believe that it is imperative that both Democrats and Republicans work together and make compromises to avoid a government shutdown," the Blue Dogs wrote. "Until we move beyond these monthly battles on discretionary spending — which represent less than 15 percent of the federal budget — we cannot have a more serious conversation about the structural issues that plague our nation’s fiscal health. 

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday, while a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said those discussions had yet to be scheduled. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warns "there is no alternative" to raising the nation's borrowing limit.

The Democratic governors will criticize Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to turn Medicaid into a block grant program.