Congress shredding Bush's budget

WASHINGTON — In defiance of President Bush's budget proposals, Republicans in Congress are rejecting many of the most controversial domestic spending cuts and fee increases sought by the president in his 2006 budget.

The actions by the Appropriations committees of the Senate and House of Representatives reflect lawmakers' desire to avoid big cuts in popular programs, such as community development block grants and aid to state and local police. At the same time, lawmakers are unwilling to charge airline passengers and veterans more for government services, as Bush had proposed.

The changes — as much as $7 billion in additional domestic spending and more than $2 billion in rejected user fees — are small in relation to the overall $2.57 trillion budget Bush submitted in February. Nevertheless, they allow Congress to exert its influence and set its own priorities. Final House and Senate action isn't expected until the fall, and some of these early decisions could be reversed.

The changes show the willingness of Congress, controlled by Republicans, to alter Bush's proposals in significant ways. They reflect the parochial interests of lawmakers looking ahead to their own re-election bids next year and the pressure brought to bear by special-interest lobbyists. They also may signal lawmakers' belief that the estimated $350 billion federal budget deficit isn't a major priority, budget watchdogs say.

"I thought that 'smaller government' was going to mean smaller government," says Maya MacGuineas, president of the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "We haven't come to the point where people are willing to make really tough choices."

Some of the early congressional action has gone the president's way. Many of the 150 small programs Bush proposed for big cuts or outright termination have been killed in the more conservative House of Representatives, including 49 education, health and labor programs worth $1.6 billion. On Wednesday, a House panel voted to cut $657 million from Amtrak; Bush had sought a bigger $847 million reduction. Those cuts may be watered down in the Senate, where Democrats have more influ- ence.

In many other ways, though, Republicans are reordering Bush's priorities. They're boosting dozens of domestic spending programs while reducing the president's re- quests for defense and foreign aid. The House was preparing to cut about $3 billion Thursday night from Bush's defense spending request; one of its subcommittees stripped $2.5 billion earlier Thursday from the president's proposed foreign aid budget.