Jobs package splits House Democrats

WASHINGTON – House Democrats struggled Thursday to round up support for a scaled-back jobs package, while the Senate approved funding for 30,000 additional troops in Afghanistan.

The push to deal with urgent issues before the weeklong Memorial Day recess came near the end of a testy period in Congress, with Democratic leaders facing opposition not just from Republicans but from some in their own party.

In particular, the Democrats’ majority is increasingly divided between those who will stomach more spending and more conservative members who are concerned about record deficits.

The division is part ideology and part pragmatic politics.

“The phenomenon or the situation that I see is that members who are from low-unemployment areas are very concerned about the deficit,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Members who are from high-unemployment areas are very concerned about the jobs.”

Hoping to secure votes for the jobs bill, the House first tried scaling back its initial $200 billion version to a $143 billion measure that would extend unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers through Nov. 30.

The bill called for offsetting part of the cost by tightening tax provisions for hedge fund managers and overseas corporations. That lowered the net cost to $84 billion.

But as Republicans continue pounding anti-deficit themes, conservative House Democrats appeared less willing to approve a spending package of that size.

That means Senate Democratic leaders may not be able to muster all 59 of their votes for such legislation, let alone find enough crossover Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.

The Senate recessed Thursday without resolving the issue. Without action, unemployment benefits for many will expire Wednesday.

“We need to cut spending now, not sink more money into these failed ‘stimulus’ programs,” said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader.

Meanwhile, the Senate approved a $58.8 billion war spending bill Thursday night that provides for the additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan above President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget. That bill still must be approved by the House.