Friday brought another interesting flurry of votes and debate as the Republican-led House closed in on final approval of a package of $61 billion in budget cuts.
Most of the news today was not about actual budget cuts, but instead policy restrictions on how federal dollars can be spent by various Executive Branch agencies.
First, lawmakers approved four different amendments that bar the feds from using federal dollars to implement the new Obama health reform law.
The House also voted to block any federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood - it would mean a cut of about $75 million according to Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), who spearheaded the amendment.
It wasn't a narrow victory for Pence, as the plan received 240 votes.
Neither of those plans seem likely to survive in the Senate, but it was a reminder of the old adage that elections do have consequences, just as we saw two years ago, when the Democrats had a hefty majority in Congress.
Maybe the most interesting vote of the day was on a budget plan from more conservative lawmakers in the House, who are demanding deeper cuts than the GOP leadership has been supporting.
A plan for $22 billion in savings from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) went down to easy defeat, as all Democrats were joined by 92 Republicans in voting 'No.'
The debate got a little spicy, as senior members of the House Appropriations Committee blasted the plan, with Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) belittling across-the-board cuts as the work of "lazy" lawmakers - an observation that brought a quick rebuke from Blackburn on the floor.
Of the 29 Republicans on the Appropriations panel, 22 of them voted against the Jordan-Blackburn cuts, a reminder that the Appropriations members are on a committee charged with spending money, not cutting budgets.
The seven GOP members of that committee who voted for the cuts were Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-MT), Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS), Rep. Steve Austria (R-OH) and Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH).
If you look up where those seven lawmakers stand on the seniority roster on the Appropriations Committee, you will see that most of them are at or near the bottom.
So, despite a lot of talk - as of now at least - the budget cutting number isn't going to end up anywhere close to the $100 billion Republicans had long talked about.
Finally, there was one other amendment vote to mention, as the House easily defeated a plan from Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), which would have barred the Pentagon from entering into sponsorships with NASCAR race teams.
Friday brought another interesting flurry of votes and debate as the Republican-led House closed in on final approval of a package of $61 billion in budget cuts. Most of the news today was not about actual budget cuts, but instead policy restrictions on how federal dollars can be spent by ...
