FILE – In this Feb. 9, 2011, file photo House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., right, and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON – The GOP-controlled House handily passed legislation Tuesday to cut the federal budget by $4 billion and avert a partial shutdown of the government for two weeks.
The measure was approved by a bipartisan 335-91 vote that came shortly after Democrats in the Senate said they would go along. The White House had sought a four-week or longer stopgap bill but that effort fizzled shortly after it began.
The measure the House passed buys time for more difficult talks on a longer-term measure. House Republicans last month approved a measure to cut $61 billion from agency operating budgets over the second half of the fiscal year that expires Sept. 30. That bill is strongly opposed by Democrats, and the White House promises a veto.
The $4 billion in cuts are some of the easiest for Congress to make, hitting accounts that President Barack Obama already has proposed eliminating and reaping some of the money saved by earlier moves by Republicans to ban lawmakers from “earmarking” pet projects back to their districts and states.