Awwal 10, 1432 H./ April 14, 2011, SPA -- The US House of Representatives passed a budget Thursday for the remainder of 2011 that contains nearly 40 billion dollars in cuts as the US government tries to rein in the burgeoning deficit, reported the dpa. The bill passed the House by a 260-167 vote and is expected to come before the Senate later Thursday. The passage came less than a week after the government came within an hour of a partial shutdown as President Barack Obama and the Democrats could not reach an agreement with Republicans, who have sought deeper cuts. The new bill makes cuts across the US government, except for the Pentagon, which will get a 5-billion dollar increase over 2010 because of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dozens of House Democrats joined the majority Republicans in approving the bill after the framework for the cuts had been reached in last-minute negotiations completed before the deadline for shutting down the government. The White House and congressional lawmakers will now turn their attention to the 2012 budget and a long term spending plan in what is expected to be a major fight as Obama heads into his re-election campaign. Obama on Wednesday outlined a plan he said would reduce federal deficit spending by 4 trillion dollars by 2023, by making cuts across the government and by ending Bush-era tax breaks on the wealthiest household incomes.
