President Bush Threatens Veto Of $500B Omnibus Spending Bill

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 11 Dec 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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President Bush on Saturday said that he would veto a more than $500 billion omnibus budget package that includes the fiscal year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (HR 3043) and the 10 other unapproved FY 2008 appropriations bills, the Washington Post reports. The package would exceed the amount of domestic spending requested by Bush by $11 billion (Kane, Washington Post, 12/9).

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle on Saturday in a statement criticized the package as a "mammoth omnibus spending bill" that is "not fiscally responsible." He added, "If presented a bill like the one described in today's press reports, the president would veto it. If Congress insists on sending the president a budget-busting bill they know he will veto and that will not become law, they should also pass a continuing resolution" (Silva, "The Swamp," Baltimore Sun, 12/8).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Saturday in a joint statement said, "America expects this president to lead -- that means working in a bipartisan way with Congress to responsibly address our country's priorities rather than issuing veto threats without even knowing what he is threatening to veto."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Friday said that congressional Republicans would agree to support the package, provided that the legislation would provide additional funds for the Iraq war without a required timeline for troop withdrawal (Washington Post, 12/9). The House will vote on the package on Tuesday (Hulse, New York Times, 12/8). According to the Wall Street Journal, the package is the "Democrats' last, best shot at avoiding a repeat of the budget collapse last year under Republican rule" (Rogers, Wall Street Journal, 12/10).

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