House budget leader criticizes Senate plan

Although the Senate has yet to deal with many of the most contentious amendments to its fiscal 2006 budget resolution, House leaders already are expressing pessimism about how they will reconcile the Senate plan with their own.

The Senate was headed for a close vote on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with supporters confident they had the votes to preserve the provision.

But some other key upcoming votes -- particularly on Medicaid -- look more uncertain.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, criticized the Senate Tuesday and said he was not confident the two chambers could resolve their differences in conference.

"It's very disappointing to us what's going on over there," he said. "I hate to be a naysayer about this at all, but I'm not sure how we get a conference with the Senate with where they're at. Last year they were at least, I think, trying. This year I think they almost gave up before they started the process."

With debate on the $2.6 trillion House budget resolution set to begin Wednesday, Nussle and Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the House likely will need to consider a "fallback position" this year where the House deems a budget and holds Congress to those numbers.

"[And] the president provides the discipline," said DeLay.

Nussle said his frustration are not directed at Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "No, this isn't personal," he said. Nussle's comments were aimed at what he sees as growing momentum for an amendment by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., that would eliminate procedural protections for up to $15 billion in Medicaid savings over five years. Gregg called that goal "very doable" since it would amount to only a 1 percent cut in the rate of growth of a program expected to cost $1.12 trillion over the next five years. And Gregg picked up some key support when a potential swing vote on the Medicaid amendment, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said Tuesday he would not support Smith's amendment. When asked about Nussle's comments, Gregg replied: "Maybe he got up on the wrong side of the bed. Ate some bad food."

In other developments, discussions between House Republican leaders and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, were not yielding progress Tuesday afternoon on a compromise that could head off a conservative revolt against final passage of that chamber's budget resolution later this week.

Pence rejected a proposed compromise that would allow critics of spending bills to force Republican Conference meetings to discuss appropriations bills that they argue exceed budget caps.

"The bottom line is he [Pence] just wants to be an obstructionist. That is very clear now," a House leadership aide said, adding the latest offer was the fourth they had put before Pence.

Before a meeting with House Majority Whip Blunt, Pence told reporters that a condition of his support for the budget would require leadership to allow votes on points of order against discretionary spending increases, which marked a significant concession on his part. The Senate had four largely symbolic Social Security amendments lined up for stacked votes on Tuesday.