The massive class of Republican freshmen won its first major victory in the House Thursday, coercing the GOP leadership into nearly doubling the size of the cuts they planned to impose on this year's spending bill. The 87 new Republican lawmakers, sworn in just a month ago and largely backed by the Tea Party, told Republican leaders they were unhappy with a proposal to reduce the fiscal 2011 budget by $35 billion, complaining that it did not uphold their campaign trail "Pledge to America" that promised to slash federal spending by $100 billion this year.
The freshman class lobbied the GOP leaders intensely over the past 24 hours to increase the cuts, and the talks culminated in a sudden announcement Thursday afternoon from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., who said he would reduce actual spending levels in this year's budget by $58 billion, a decrease of $23 billion below his original proposal released just a day earlier.
That makes the GOP budget proposal a full $100 billion below what President Obama requested last March in his initial budget request for fiscal 2011.
"After meeting with my subcommittee chairs, we have determined that the [budget] can and will reach a total of $100 billion in cuts compared to the president's request ... fully meeting the goal outlined in the Republican 'Pledge to America' in one fell swoop," Rogers said.
It was a major victory for the GOP freshmen, some of whom told The Washington Examiner they worked the phones, the hallways and the House floor to get the message through to the elder Republicans that they couldn't back a plan that did not uphold their pledge.
"We had some conversations with leadership, some direct face-to face conversations," said Tom Reed, a New York Republican backed by the Tea Party. Reed said he and other freshmen were "concerned" by the $35 billion proposal and made sure the leadership knew it. "They were receptive. They understood where we were and they heard us. And that's good."
The new cuts set up a potential fight on the House floor next week, when the GOP plans to vote on the spending bill. The bill funds the final seven months of the fiscal year, ending Sept. 30.
Several moderate Republicans, some on the Appropriations Committee, have told The Washington Examiner they believe some of the cuts go too far.
Without moderate GOP support, the proposal could fail because few, if any Democrats are likely to back the plan.
Read more
The freshman class lobbied the GOP leaders intensely over the past 24 hours to increase the cuts, and the talks culminated in a sudden announcement Thursday afternoon from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., who said he would reduce actual spending levels in this year's budget by $58 billion, a decrease of $23 billion below his original proposal released just a day earlier.
That makes the GOP budget proposal a full $100 billion below what President Obama requested last March in his initial budget request for fiscal 2011.
"After meeting with my subcommittee chairs, we have determined that the [budget] can and will reach a total of $100 billion in cuts compared to the president's request ... fully meeting the goal outlined in the Republican 'Pledge to America' in one fell swoop," Rogers said.
It was a major victory for the GOP freshmen, some of whom told The Washington Examiner they worked the phones, the hallways and the House floor to get the message through to the elder Republicans that they couldn't back a plan that did not uphold their pledge.
"We had some conversations with leadership, some direct face-to face conversations," said Tom Reed, a New York Republican backed by the Tea Party. Reed said he and other freshmen were "concerned" by the $35 billion proposal and made sure the leadership knew it. "They were receptive. They understood where we were and they heard us. And that's good."
The new cuts set up a potential fight on the House floor next week, when the GOP plans to vote on the spending bill. The bill funds the final seven months of the fiscal year, ending Sept. 30.
Several moderate Republicans, some on the Appropriations Committee, have told The Washington Examiner they believe some of the cuts go too far.
Without moderate GOP support, the proposal could fail because few, if any Democrats are likely to back the plan.
Read more
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