WASHINGTON — A GOP-controlled House panel has unveiled cuts to labor, health and education programs and has approved slashing the Environmental Protections Agency’s budget over the protests of panel Democrats.
The Senate’s top Republican has laid the groundwork for a vote later this week in which Democrats are poised to tie up the Pentagon’s budget in a Washington showdown over the agency spending approved each year by Congress.
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are seeking increases to domestic programs but Republicans controlling Congress are keeping them frozen for the most part while proposing to match Obama’s recommended 7 percent budget hike for the Pentagon.
Senate Democrats, however, praised a $47 billion bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
