House Backs Away from Draconian Transportation and Housing Spending Cuts

"Long-running Republican tensions over the Ryan budget’s deep spending cuts boiled over Wednesday as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee accused his party of being unable to support them," report Russell Berman and Erik Wasson. "In a blistering statement, Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said he was 'extremely disappointed' with his leadership’s decision to pull the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development spending bill from the floor."

"The THUD bill has $10 billion less in spending than a companion version being considered in the Senate that has divided upper chamber Republicans," Berman and Wasson note. "The House bill cuts $7 billion from 2013. Hardest hit in the GOP bill is the Community Development Block Grant program, which is cut nearly in half to $1.6 billion, a cut of $1.3 billion that makes its budget lower than in 1975. There is no funding for high-speed rail, and Amtrak gets a 21 percent cut to its operating budget."

"Democrats had suggested that Republicans were not comfortable with the cuts."