House leader sees budget, energy bills in weeks

 

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday offered an optimistic outlook for passing a budget and an energy bill in the coming weeks, despite past troubles approving other legislation.

The forecast by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer came as Democrats, who control the chamber, have struggled to complete bills on home mortgage reform and voting rights for the U.S. capital because of concerns by party conservatives.

Hoyer said the House would likely finish a budget -- which outlines spending priorities for the government for the 2010 fiscal year that begins October 1 -- during the first week in April before lawmakers recess for a two-week Easter break.

"The president has put forward a very ambitious, not unrealistic, but ambitious proposal," the No. 2 Democrat in the House told reporters, referring to the $3.55 trillion budget outline President Barack Obama sent to Congress last week.

"We expect to consider the budget on the floor of the House during that week," he said. In contrast, Congress last year did not approve a budget until June.

He and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi face challenges not just from Republicans, who have criticized Obama's budget for raising taxes on the wealthy and boosting spending amid a deep recession, but also from factions of their own party.

Two groups of Democrats, known as the New Democrats and Blue Dog coalition of fiscal conservatives, forced a weeklong delay of legislation aimed at allowing bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage debt so it could be tightened.

Democrats also had to shelve, at least temporarily, a bill to give Washington, D.C., a voting representative in the House because of threats to add provisions to loosen gun control laws there.

Hoyer said he and House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt had already been meeting with those and other groups.

Still, questions remain on how healthcare, education and climate change will be addressed in the budget outline and whether specific instructions would be laid out for committees as they craft the annual spending bills.

Hoyer also said that the House would probably try to pass energy legislation in May before the weeklong Memorial Day break lawmakers take at the end of the month.

"Clearly energy, energy independence and global warming is something the Democrats in the House and the Democrats in the Senate clearly indicated was a priority objective," he said.

The legislation could include a cap and trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, but that it was up to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and his panel, Hoyer said.

"We all know that cap and trade has broad support but is controversial," he said. "I don't want to prejudge but ... cap and trade is going to be very much part of what I think Waxman is going to pursue."