Senate signals unhappiness with war supplementals

The Senate dealt a symbolic blow to Monday the Bush administration's practice of funding operations in Iraq and Afghanistan under emergency spending requests, voting 61-31 to express the chamber's will that war funds be included in regular annual budget submissions.

Backed by 21 Republicans, the provision authored by Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., was attached to an $80.7 billion fiscal 2005 supplemental spending bill. Although non-binding, it reflects growing bipartisan unease with funding ongoing military operations through emergency measures in a time of rampant budget deficits.

But debate on the underlying bill, and on an overall budget plan for the next fiscal year, is notable for how difficult it is to keep spending down, with some lawmakers lined up to try to add projects.

With backing by Catholic charities and grain and dairy exporters, bipartisan momentum is building to boost spending on supplemental food aid to developing nations by $320 million, for example. Supporters say the amendment would enable the U.S. Agency for International Development to meet its commitments and replenish funds already disbursed for tsunami relief.

And taxpayer groups were moving Monday to head off support for an amendment by Georgia's senators and others to block cancellation of the C130J cargo plane, which the Pentagon says would save $5 billion over five years. The amendment exemplifies how local politics can creep into the budget debate; the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp., employs about 2,000 workers at its Marietta, Ga., facility.

Similar considerations are factoring into the fiscal 2006 budget resolution talks, in which the White House and Republican leaders are aiming to trim entitlement programs that have gone largely untouched since 1997.

This might be the last chance during the Bush administration to target entitlements, since mid-term elections and the looming 2008 presidential race will make such moves unlikely down the road. Regardless, the reconciliation debate is unlikely to target the government's most expensive long-term liability, Medicare, in the face of substantial opposition from influential lawmakers, the White House and K Street.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-M.H., said Monday he would like to complete budget negotiations by May, when the Senate takes a weeklong recess. He and House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, are moving closer to finding middle ground on a five-year spending cut package, at something close to the $43 billion halfway point between the chambers.

That total is significantly higher than the Senate's $17 billion, as well as the committee-reported $32 billion. But people close to the discussions said the House continues to seek savings closer to the president's $51 billion request -- a significant retrenchment from $69 billion in the House-passed version -- while the Senate is finding it difficult to convince members to go along with something approaching $43 billion.

That figure includes Medicaid cuts of up to $12 billion, which moderates would be hard-pressed to accept, as well as a proposed $5 billion to 6 billion in savings from programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families and unemployment insurance.

As the budget deliberations continue, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., implored senators to wrap up work on the supplemental this week. "We're at war. We have troops who need this funding now," Frist said. Key votes on immigration-related amendments will occur today. Regardless of the outcome, tough conference negotiations are expected as the House included contentious border security legislation in its $81 billion version.

Even if the fiscal 2005 conference negotiations are unfinished by the beginning of May, the House Appropriations Committee is pressing forward the week of May 1 with subcommittee markups of the first three 2006 spending bills -- Agriculture, Interior and Homeland Security. But appropriators would like to wrap up the supplemental conference before turning to the 2006 Defense measure, which might be in the second round of House bills to move.