Senate Dems, Obama official call on GOP to lift spending limits

Senate Democrats, along with a senior Obama official, are calling on Republicans to lift spending ceilings that are set to return in October.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan made clear at a Capitol Hill press conference on Thursday that President Obama would not accept a budget that maintains those caps. 

“He will not accept a budget that locks in sequestration going forward,” said Donovan, who was later asked if Obama would sign appropriations bills that keep those levels in place.

“We’re not in the business of making decisions until we see bills,” Donovan replied. 

Congressional budget blueprints don’t require a presidential signature, but provide benchmarks to appropriators who produce spending bills Obama would have to sign.

Obama would also not accept a budget that “severs the vital link” between defense and non-defense spending, Donovan said.

{mosads}Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called on Republicans to work with Democrats to raise the spending levels for both the military and non-defense domestic programs equally. 

Republicans want to “lop the top off programs that create jobs and grow the economy,” Schumer said.

McCaskill said sequestration budget limits, set by the Budget Control Act of 2011, “handcuffs our ability” to fund the military and areas such as research and technology that are necessary to compete globally.  

The press conference came in advance of budget resolutions House and Senate Republicans are scheduled to unveil and mark up next week. Donovan and the Senate Democrats acknowledged that it would take a change in law to adjust the sequestration limits. 

Donovan said he hopes Congress can produce a budget deal similar to the one reached in December, 2013, that eased sequestration for two years.

Asked if he’s had any serious conversations with congressional Republicans about a possible compromise, Donovan declined to comment.