Republicans scaled back plans for deep cuts in US government spending as they took power in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, diluting a key promise that helped them to victory in November's election. A senior Republican also signalled the party could work with the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, to avert a debt crisis in the coming months.
"Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy. Hard work and tough decisions will be required," incoming House Speaker John Boehner said in excerpts of a speech due later in the day. Republicans' control of the House and their larger minority in the Senate usher in a new era of divided government after their big election gains that were due mostly to voter anger at high unemployment and the large $1.3 trillion deficit.
But Obama's Democrats still control the Senate and can block the Republican agenda, which includes a plan to repeal the president's landmark healthcare reform and a crackdown on Wall Street. The incoming House budget chief, Republican Paul Ryan, told NBC's "Today" program a Republican campaign promise to cut $100 billion in spending this year had been "compromised" by the momentum of spending already under way.
The actual cuts put forward could be "substantially less" than $50 billion, a House Republican aide said, because the fiscal year will be halfway through by the time Republicans get a chance to affect spending. A deal on taxes in December showed that Obama and the opposition can work together but there are many thorny issues to deal with as the United States recovers slowly from its worst recession since the 1930s.
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