Republican budget plans divided over defense spending and Medicare fix

Associated Press in Washington
Tuesday 17 March 2015 13.12 GMT

House Republicans on Tuesday will propose using tens of billions of dollars in additional war funding to get around tight budget limits on the Pentagon in their new budget plan. The move is designed to placate defense hawks, but is already making tough-on-spending elements in the party uneasy.

The latest plan by Republicans controlling the House also reprises sharp proposed cuts to the Medicaid program for the poor, food stamps and healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

House budget committee chairman Tom Price is releasing the measure Tuesday morning. He has said it will promise balance within 10 years, if not before.

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The use of overseas military funds to skirt spending caps on the military, however, is a new feature. War spending is exempt from budget limits and the move would allow Republicans to effectively match Obama’s proposal to boost defense spending by $38bn above current limits. That was a key demand of the party’s defense hawks.

Senate Republicans, GOP aides say, are likely to reject the move to radically reshape Medicare and are more reluctant to use war funds to help out the Pentagon.

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