Administration blasts GOP's proposed cuts for rest of 2011

The Obama administration has fired back at a bill that would cut $100 billion in spending for the second half of 2011, issuing a sharply worded statement in opposition. Read the statement here.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) introduced the bill (H.R. 1) last week to fund the government for the remainder of this fiscal year while also cutting government spending by an estimated $100 billion compared with the president’s fiscal 2011 budget request.

Related stories:

GOP leader ups the ante: $100 billion in spending cuts this fiscal year

“The continuing resolution on the floor today represents the largest reduction in non-security discretionary funding in the history of our nation,” Rogers said Feb. 15. He added that the bill would put the nation on a “sustainable financial path.”

But the administration said it does not support the “deep cuts” included in Rogers’ legislation, particularly those that would affect the Defense Department. 

“The bill proposes cuts that would sharply undermine core government functions and investments key to economic growth and job creation, and would reduce funding for [DOD] to a level that would leave the department without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirements,” the administration said in a statement issued Feb. 15.

The administration added that if the president is presented with a bill that undermines critical priorities, shortchanges national security or contains earmarks, he will veto that bill.

The current continuing resolution expires at the beginning of March.