Democrats waver ahead of budget votes

The US Senate was gearing up for two symbolic votes on the budget, amid signs that some moderate Democrats are wavering over their party’s position, which could weaken the White House’s hand in the negotiations.

In a speech on the floor of the upper chamber on Tuesday, Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat running for re-election next year, said both his party’s proposal to cut $10.5bn from current spending levels, and the Republican plan to slash $61bn in government programmes, were “partisan and unrealistic”.

Of the Democratic plan, Mr Manchin said it “ignores our fiscal reality, our nation is badly in debt and spending is at unsustainable levels”. He also attacked President Barack Obama: “Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations — our president — has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?”
Of the Republican proposal, Mr Manchin said it “blindly hacks the budget with no sense of our priorities or our values as a country”.
Both plans were expected to be rejected in procedural votes in the Senate on Tuesday, but the extent to which there are defections from party lines on both sides could offer a glimpse of who has the upper hand in the budget talks.

The White House and congressional leaders need to find common ground on the nature and level of spending by March 18, or face a partial shutdown of the federal government.

While it was unclear whether any Republican senators would oppose their plan, which originated in the House of Representatives, the defection of Mr Manchin, and possibly other conservative Democrats such as Claire McCaskill of Missouri, could mean that the White House was in a weaker spot as the talks unfolded this week.

Last year, several moderate Democrats were early supporters of extending Bush-tax cuts for wealthy Americans, which the White House opposed until it was forced into a deal after the midterm elections allowing them to continue until the end of 2012.

The Obama administration and Democratic leaders have indicated a willingness to cut further than $10.5bn, but only if the nature of the cuts does not compromise their innovation and investment agenda. “We have already said we need to make additional cuts. The whole point of voting on the two bills is to create a starting point for negotiations,” said one Democratic aide in the Senate.

The talks over the budget aim to fund the government to the end of the fiscal year on September 30, but the sides may have to settle for a much shorter extension.

At a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy, the Republican majority whip in the House, said his party would be prepared to accept a stopgap measure lasting between two and four weeks. “Each time we’re going to go at it taking more bites, making sure we have cuts out there to make the economy stronger,” he said.