Jamie Dupree

House Budget War

Jamie Dupree

@ June 18, 2009 9:21 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

War has been declared by both parties in the House of Representatives over the budget process, and that means it could be an ugly Summer of work on appropriations bills.

Earlier this week, Democrats shut off what is usually an open amendment process on spending bills, arguing that Republicans were readying a blizzard of political amendments.

Republicans basically said, "Go ahead. Make my day."

And so when Democratic leaders limited the amendments that the GOP could offer, Republican lawmakers did what the minority can do in the House.

They screwed with the Majority for a full day.

The GOP forced votes on every amendment possible. They called for re-votes, even when the question wasn't in doubt.

They made motions to reconsider votes. They raised points of order on motions to recommit the Commerce, Justice, Science bill.

They forced votes on the parliamentary rulings of the Chair.

In all, there were 53 recorded votes on Thursday, which many feel just might be a record for the House since electronic voting began in the early 1970s.

On Friday, the House is supposed to consider the Legislative Branch spending bill - in other words, the budget for the Congress.

Twenty different amendments were submitted to the Rules Committee, and only one - from a Democrat - was approved for floor consideration.

Just for fun, here are the amendments that were offered - the only one accepted for floor action was #18 from Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York.

It meant there would be no floor consideration of one GOP amendment that would call for a review of putting a transparent (and likely bullet proof) shield around the House chamber, so no one could do any harm to lawmakers on the floor below (Burton of Indiana on that one.)

Another amendment would have taken a shot at Speaker Pelosi over her CIA comments by preventing her from being an ex-officio member of the Intelligence Committee, and not allowing one of her staff to be on that panel.

Nothing like the sweet smell of partisan battling.

Summary of Amendments Submitted to the Rules Committee for H.R. 2918 - Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2010 (Summaries derived from information provided by sponsors) Listed in Alphabetical Order Jun 18, 2009 12:49 PM
Blackburn (TN)	#1	Would reduce spending in the bill by 5% across-the-board.
Boehner (OH)	#20	REVISED Would require that none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to make purchases on the Chicago Climate Exchange.
Broun (GA)	#6	Would reduce spending in the bill by 0.5% across-the-board.
Broun (GA)	#7	Would eliminate funding for the Wheels for Wellness Program, would reduce funding for House Salaries and Expenses by $100,000, and would reduce funding for House Allowances and Expenses by $100,000.
Burton (IN)	#8	Would require the Comptroller General to submit a report to the Committee on House Administration within 6 months of enactment analyzing the security arrangements of the House Chamber, including whether enclosing the House galleries in a transparent shield would be an appropriate and cost-effective measure.
Conaway (TX)/ Bean (IL)	#11	Would express the Sense of the House of Representatives that any reduction in the amount appropriated by this Act achieved as a result of amendments adopted by the House should be dedicated to deficit reduction.
Flake, Jeff (AZ)	#10	Would prohibit funds from being used to implement the House Ethics Manual provision on page 239 in the Certification of No Financial Interest in Fiscal Legislation section of Chapter Five that states "A contribution to a Member's principal campaign committee or leadership PAC generally would not constitute the type of 'financial interest' referred to in the rule."
Gingrey (GA)	#5	Would prohibit funds from being used to carry out the activities of a labor organization.
Hastings, Doc (WA)/ Arcuri (NY)	#4	Would require that food service agencies within the Legislative Branch give preference to U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables when purchasing produce.
Heller (NV)	#9	Would reduce the House Salaries and Expenses account by $51 million and reduce the Members' Representational Allowances account by $51 million.
Hodes (NH)	#17	Would require all offices receiving appropriations allocated for grant-making programs under this bill to report to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 90 days after the end of Fiscal Year 2010. Reports shall describe 1) future action to resolve the accounts; 2) the method that the office is taking to track these expired grant accounts; 3) which accounts could be returned to the United States Treasury; and 4) the number and total finances in the expired grant accounts for the past three fiscal years.
Holt (NJ)	#12	REVISED Would provide $2.5 million for the congressional Office of Technology Assessment and would reduce funding by $2.5 million for the Government Accountability Office.
Jordan (OH)	#2	Would reduce spending in the bill by 16.6% across-the-board.
King, Steve (IA)	#13	REVISED Would decrease the Capitol Visitors Center appropriations by $2 million and increases the salaries and expenses of standing committees by $2 million.
King, Steve (IA)	#14	REVISED Would increase and then decrease the amount appropriated to the standing committees by $1 million.
King, Steve (IA)	#15	REVISED Would prohibit funds from being used to administer clause 11(a)(2) and 11(a)(3) of House Rule X (designating the Speaker as an ex officio member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and permitting the Speaker to designate a staff member to the Intelligence Committee, respectively).
McCarthy, Carolyn (NY)	#18	Would require that $250,000 of the funds appropriated to the Library of Congress be allocated for the Civil Rights Oral History Project.
McCarthy, Carolyn (NY)	#19	Would increase the account for the Office of the Legislative Counsel in the House by $1,000,000 and decrease the account for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer by $1,000,000.
Price, Tom (GA)	#3	Would reduce spending in the bill by 1% across-the-board.
Stearns (FL)	#16	Would reduce spending in the bill by 8.82% across-the-board.