House passes cuts to health care, other programs to protect Pentagon funding

May 11 2012

News outlets covered the party-line vote.

The Washington Post: House Passes Bill To Shield Pentagon From Automatic Spending Cuts
The Republican-led House has agreed to replace deep budget cuts scheduled to hit the Pentagon in January with a series of reductions in funding for food stamps, Medicaid and regulation of the financial sector. The House approved the package that would save $242.8 billion over 10 years on a party-line 218 to 199 vote. No Democrats supported the package; sixteen Republicans opposed it (Helderman, 5/10).

The Associated Press: House OKs Social Programs Cuts To Aid Pentagon
Fully 25 percent of the cuts come from programs that benefit the poor, while cuts to President Barack Obama's health care plan also affect those with modest incomes, prevention funding, and efforts by states to set up insurance exchanges (Taylor, 5/10). 

CNN: House Passes Bill Undoing Defense Cuts
Specifically, the GOP plan would replace the bulk of a package of roughly $110 billion in defense and domestic cuts currently slated for next year. The Republican proposal would, among other things, cut Medicaid and food stamp spending, reduce spending for President Barack Obama's health care reform law, strip regulators of the ability to wind down failing financial firms, and end a White House program meant to help struggling homeowners (Silverleib, 5/10).

The Hill: House Votes To Replace Pentagon Cuts Mandated By Debt Deal
While doomed in the Senate and opposed by the White House, the legislation, which would reduce the deficit by $243 billion, is a Republican marker for post-election budget talks with the White House (Wasson and Kasperowicz, 5/10).

Politico: GOP Leaves Debt Accord In Dust
Non-defense appropriations already face $27 billion in cuts beyond what the budget law anticipated, and the new measure adds a second round of savings, culled from President Barack Obama's signature initiatives as well as core benefit programs such as Medicaid ... There is growing sentiment among Senate Democrats -; reflected in comments this week by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -; that the party should hang tough behind the budget law, gambling that strong medicine is needed to jolt the political system back toward the center and compromise (Rogers, 5/10).

Earlier KHN summary of coverage: House Vote Likely Today On GOP Budget Plan