Washington – House Republicans voted to cut student loan subsidies, child support enforcement and aid to companies hurt by unfair trade practices as various committees scrambled to piece together $50 billion in budget cuts.
More politically difficult votes – to cut Medicaid, food stamps and farm subsidies – are on tap today as more panels weigh in on the bill. It was originally intended to cut $35 billion in spending over five years, but after pressure from conservatives, GOP leaders directed committees to cut an additional $15 billion to help pay for hurricane recovery.
President Bush met with House and Senate GOP leaders and said he was pleased with the progress. He also appeared to endorse House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s plan for an across-the- board cut in agency budgets, perhaps including the Pentagon, by the end of the year.
“I encourage Congress to push the envelope when it comes to cutting spending,” Bush said.
Dozens of issues are at play as Republicans in the House and Senate cobble together the sprawling budget bill. The measure is the first in eight years to take aim at the automatic growth of federal spending programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.
In the Senate, the Budget Committee voted along party lines to bundle the work of eight legislative committees into a bill that the full Senate will debate next week. The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate measure would save $39 billion over five years – $4 billion more than the budget passed last spring.
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved squeezing lenders in the student loan program and raising premiums to employers for government insurance of their employees’ and retirees’ pension benefits.
It also imposes new fees on students who default on loans or consolidate them and higher fees on parents who borrow on behalf of their college-age children.
