GOP Budget Will Include Cuts To 70 Programs

The GOP released a list of spending cuts that will be included in the party’s 2011 budget package, set to be debated next week.

All together, the cuts would shave about $35 billion from the 2011 budget that President Obama pitched last year. Congress, which subsequently failed to pass a budget, has been running on a series of temporary funding measures, the latest of which expires on March 4, that have kept spending levels consistent with 2010.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday compiled a detailed list of the many cuts, available to you here.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that he expects to face stiff opposition from businesses and groups that would be impacted by the spending reductions.

“Make no mistake, these cuts are not low-hanging fruit,” Rogers said in a statement. “These cuts are real and will impact every District across the country - including my own.”

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) blasted the plan, saying it would loudly interrupt economic recovery.

“House Republicans have introduced a short-sighted plan that does not distinguish between necessary cuts, and cuts to investments that are critical to our continued economic recovery.”

In addition to preparing to tangle with Democrats, Republicans should also expect a showdown with conservative members of their own party, who would like leaders to stick to a pledge they made last year to eliminate $100 billion from the budget this year alone.

One of the most popular conservatives in Congress, Tea Party Caucus Chair Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), recently put forth a budget proposal that listed more than $400 billion worth of spending cuts. Not to be outdone, newly-elected Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released his own plan that called for slicing the Commerce Department’s budget in half and all but abolishing the Department of the Interior.