US House Clears $410 Bln Spending For Fiscal 2009

The House voted 245-178 for the package.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved a $410 billion bill on Wednesday to fund government operations through the end of fiscal 2009, despite Republican objections to additional spending.

The House voted 245-178 for the package, which includes spending for government departments ranging from transportation to agriculture through Sept. 30. Republicans complained that it was 8 percent more money than was spent in fiscal 2008.

The House vote came one day before President Barack Obama was due to release his first budget request for fiscal 2010, which begins on Oct. 1 and could also spark partisan bickering over Washington's huge spending plans.

Defending their latest bid for funding, Democrats charged that they were saddled with the growing debt and deficit by Republicans who controlled the White House over the last eight years.

"We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," said Democratic Representative James McGovern. "So it is somewhat ironic that the very people who drove this economy into a ditch are now complaining about the size of the tow truck."

The measure now goes to the Senate -- also controlled by Democrats -- where its future was less certain because Republicans, who have complained the bill is too expensive, can employ procedural hurdles to stop it.

Republicans have urged spending be capped at 2008 levels amid forecasts of a record $1.4 trillion budget deficit for fiscal 2009. They also argued that numerous programs already received extra funding in the $787 billion stimulus approved days ago.

"There's nothing fiscally responsible regarding designating $1.2 trillion in spending in just two weeks," Republican Representative Pete Sessions said during the House debate.

Democratic Representative Dave Obey, who helped craft the $410 billion measure, said he made no apologies for the size of the stimulus and spending plans. "We are trying to fill what is going to be a $3 trillion hole in the economy because of the rising unemployment numbers."

Obama has pledged to cut the deficit in half during his first term and told Congress on Tuesday night he has identified $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade.

And in a feat Obama and his fellow Democrats were unable to do in the House vote on the stimulus bill earlier this month, they won several House Republican votes for the spending bill.