The nine new Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee are united in espousing the new GOP appropriations mantra: Make deep cuts to spending, and make them quickly.
House Speaker-designate John BoehnerJohn Andrew Boehner Cruz hits back at Boehner for telling him to 'go f--- yourself' John Boehner tells Cruz to 'go f--- yourself' in unscripted audiobook asides: report Cancun fallout threatens to deal lasting damage to Cruz MORE (R-Ohio) has vowed weekly votes on spending cuts starting in January, and the Appropriations Committee will be charged with drafting rescission bills to make that happen.
New committee members interviewed Friday by The Hill identified unspent stimulus money and the Obama healthcare reform bills as high on their list of targets for cuts. They said a more careful approach needs to be taken with defense spending.
In a statement announcing his appointment to Appropriations, Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio) stressed fiscal responsibility but also highlighted how the position could benefit the people in his district.
“The work of the Appropriations Committee has a direct impact on our area including those military facilities in Ohio,” Austria’s statement said. “Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is expected to gain new missions related to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 and my work on this committee will allow me to better support and assist in continuing to strengthen those productive missions in and around the base.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said his top concern as a member of the spending panel is saving the nation from bankruptcy, but he said he is also wrestling with the question of whether Republicans have tied their hands by implementing an earmark moratorium.
“People are asking if we have ceded too much authority to the administration,” he said. “Congress has to have a way to make changes. Congress needs to have influence.”

“There are some earmarks with a quantifiable return on investment,” he said, though he noted the earmark ban is necessary to get the ball rolling on spending cuts and building credibility with the public.
Diaz-Balart said preserving necessary defense spending in a time of war is important. That sentiment was echoed by incoming freshman Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.). “I think everything in the appropriations process needs to be put under review,” he said. "However, I do think that defense is an important function that government takes."
Rep. Tom Graves

Graves said he would focus on making enough cuts so the debt ceiling does not have to be raised.
While the GOP has tapped longtime appropriator and former earmark proponent Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) to chair the panel, it has also given a slot to anti-earmark crusader Rep. Jeff FlakeJeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeFormer GOP lawmaker: Republican Party 'engulfed in lies and fear' Grassley to vote against Tanden nomination Klain on Manchin's objection to Neera Tanden: He 'doesn't answer to us at the White House' MORE (R-Ariz.).
Flake has already picked his first fight with Rogers. Flake wants an investigations subcommittee to be created; his supporters want him to lead it. Rogers has said he does not back the idea because it would let the 12 existing subcommittees off the hook when it comes to investigating waste.
Nunnelee and Diaz-Balart said they do not have subcommittee preferences at this point. Diaz-Balart did highlight his interest in foreign aid and financial services, however. Nunnelee has been named a “Friend of Agriculture” by the Mississippi Farm Bureau.
Congressman-elect Kevin Yoder

