Conservatives seek $20B in deeper cuts to House spending bill

The conservative Republican Study Committee is offering an amendment to the GOP spending bill that would deepen cuts to government funding by as much as $20 billion for the rest of the year.
 
The amendment, submitted by committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), could draw broad support from conservative and Tea Party-aligned Republican freshmen who have pushed party leaders to expand the cuts they are planning for the federal government.

The House begins debate Tuesday on a spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
 
The legislation drafted by GOP leaders would cut $61 billion from current spending. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has trumpeted the fact that the bill would reduce President Obama’s budget request for 2011, which was never enacted, by $100 billion – a number that matches the Republican “Pledge to America” for spending cuts in the first year.
 
Conservative members of the GOP caucus have pushed to cut a full $100 billion from current spending, and Jordan’s amendment would bring the total reductions closer to that total. His amendment calls for across- the-board cuts to the appropriations bill that currently directs funding for the government, with a single exception: aid to Israel.

A spokesman for the congressman, Brian Straessle, said Jordan’s measure would reduce current spending by another $19 billion to $20 billion beyond the cuts outlined by party leaders. The goal, he said, is to fully return non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels.
 
Jordan’s amendment is one of more than 400 that have been filed for the spending bill, and Straessle said he intends to push for a vote on it.

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