As we mentioned in 2302, budget battles often become attempts to change public policy. The next round of appropriations bills prove the point:
Congress has avoided a shutdown over the budget for now. But a small
faction of House Republicans is already tussling over how to position
the party for the next round.
House GOP appropriations leaders have released a draft bill to fund
labor, health, and education for the 2012 fiscal year. While it’s still
just a piece of the overall budget, it’s already making some battle
lines clear. In fact, the bill’s biggest obstacle so far has come from
within the House GOP itself.
Authored by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), the bill contains some major spending cuts that would set up a big showdown with Democrats should the GOP as a whole get behind it. It zeroes out
funds for Obama’s “Race to the Top” education program and Title X
family planning; cuts funds for the National Labor Relations Board by 17
percent; tightens Pell Grant eligibility; and slashes $8.6 billion in
an effort to block
the implementation of health-care reform. It also brings back recently
contentious fights, eliminating all federal funding for NPR and
Americorps and trying to reinstate the so-called “Stupak amendment” that
nearly derailed the Affordable Care Act.
- Wikipedia: Denny Rehberg.
- House Page: Denny Rehberg
- House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.