Spending bill add-ons divide Republicans

WASHINGTON – The White House and Senate Republican leaders are gearing up to oppose a $106.5 billion spending bill for the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina this week because some lawmakers have added unrelated aid for farmers and fisheries, highways and ports.

The unusual battle pits President Bush and Republican leaders concerned about rising federal budget deficits against members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who have attached dozens of items sought by individual lawmakers. Even more new spending will be sought by senators during the weeklong debate. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wants to add veterans health care; Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., wants to add border security.

The fight comes in an election year when members of Congress are under pressure to show they’re getting federal spending under control, especially members’ hometown and home-state spending. Senate floor debate is scheduled to begin today.

“This is more evidence of the dysfunctional nature of the Republican majority in the Senate,” says Pat Toomey, president of the conservative Club for Growth. “The leadership is right this time, but the question is will they be able to hold enough of the rank-and-file members to do the right thing.”

The committee that approved the increases is headed by Mississippi Republican Thad Cochran, who has battled to ensure that his state gets its fair share of Katrina relief funds. His spokeswoman, Jenny Manley, says the Bush administration “does not have the sole authority to say what needs remain in the Gulf Coast. Members of Congress have more direct accountability to their constituents and know well what needs remain.”

Bush sought $92.2 billion to pay ongoing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast. The House approved $91.9 billion in March, but the Senate Appropriations Committee added about $14 billion to the measure in early April by inserting numerous items, including money for disasters back to 1999.

“The Senate committee’s add-ons were astonishingly higher than the president’s request,” says Scott Milburn of the White House Office of Management and Budget. “That has caused serious concern.”

“We would like to get it back down closer to the original request of $92 billion,” says Bill Hoagland, a budget analyst for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

If the Senate approves the additional money, House Republicans will try to erase it during negotiations to produce a compromise bill. “We passed a clean bill, and we want to keep it as close to the president’s request as possible,” says House Appropriations Committee spokesman John Scofield.

White House opposition has emboldened Senate critics, led by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who contend that the war and hurricane funding bill have attracted “pork barrel” projects. The cost will get added to the federal budget deficit, estimated by the White House budget office at $423 billion this year. That’s up from $318 billion in 2005.

Gregg, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, was the only senator to oppose the bill in the Appropriations Committee. He says the measure “has ballooned out of control.” To pay for more border security, he plans to propose cuts elsewhere in the bill.