Senate Republicans are proposing to kill a planned State Department security training facility on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as part of a sweeping spending and tax alternative expected to be voted on Thursday afternoon.
The Republican substitute isn’t expected to gain approval in the Democrat-dominated chamber, but the measure represents the second swing at the controversial Ruthsburg, Md., center by Republicans in recent weeks, suggesting that it has attracted the attention of conservatives in Washington. The initial attempt to zero out funding for construction also failed.
As part of their substitute proposal, Republicans also want to eliminate a proposed 2011 pay raise for federal workers, freeze federal hiring and rescind about $38 billion in unspent stimulus dollars, including money for the proposed facility in Queen Anne’s County.
The Republican amendment is designed to finance many of the spending goals that Democrats are pushing through cuts elsewhere in the budget. However, it would not provide $24 billion in federal aid to hard-pressed state governments for health care programs that assist poor and working-class residents.
Liberals claim the Republican measure would force an effective shutdown of the federal government by jamming a five percent annual spending cut into the final four months of the fiscal year.