House Does Its Part, Passes Budget to Avoid Shutdown

Members of the House of Representatives did their part to seal Friday's last-hour deal to avert a federal government shutdown by passing legislation that will fund the federal government until the end of fiscal year 2011, September 30.

The House voted 260-167 on Thursday to approve a $1.049 trillion measure that is expected to go to the Senate where it is also likely to pass. President Obama has said he will sign it into law.

Last week's deal cut $38.5 billion from current spending levels. It was also $78.5 billion less than what Obama had requested last year. Over 10 years it will cut $315 billion from the budget.

This bill's not perfect. There's no cause for celebration. This is just one step, he said.

If Republicans in the House unite, they should be able to pass the 2012 budget they have proposed. However it will face a hard challenge in the Senate, where Democrats are in control.

Boehner said that the House would vote tomorrow on legislation to fund the federal government for 2012. It also contains provisions that would cut federal spending by nearly $6 trillion over the next deform package.

But that's not all. The bill eliminates one of ObamaCare's programs; it cuts another one in half. It eliminates funding for four of the presidents 'czars' and terminates dozens of federal programs, he said.

On Wednesday, Obama proposed to cut $4 trillion from the deficit over 12 years but only reduce spending by $2 billion. Raising taxes would make up for the higher level of spending compared to Republicans.

We've taken a small but crucial step in getting Washington to live within its means without disrupting people's lives, Boehner said.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Monday spoke about April 14 being the 100^th day with Republicans in control of the House and having failed to produced a jobs agenda.

Republicans will mark this day with debate on a budget that ends Medicare and does not create jobs, she said, referring to debate on the 2012 budget.