As the Republican-controlled House begins debate on a spending bill to fund government through the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, the White House is saying that it "strongly opposes" the current legislative draft and that if it were to pass without changes President Obama would veto it because it "undermines critical priorities" for the nation.
The veto threat came in a State of Administration Policy on H.R. 1, the spending bill currently before the House. The full text is below (emphasis in original):
The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 1, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes. The Administration is committed to cutting spending and reducing the deficit so that current government spending does not add to the debt and has put forward a plan to do just that. However, the Administration does not support deep cuts that will undermine our ability to out-educate, out-build, and out-innovate the rest of the world. The bill proposes cuts that would sharply undermine core government functions and investments key to economic growth and job creation, and would reduce funding for the Department of Defense to a level that would leave the Department without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirements. If the President is presented with a bill that undermines critical priorities or national security through funding levels or restrictions, contains earmarks, or curtails the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation while continuing to burden future generations with deficits, the President will veto the bill.
The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to refine the legislation to allow critical government functions to operate without interruption for the remainder of the fiscal year underway.
Even if the House does pass the legislation as is, it is extremely unlikely that it would ever get to the President's desk, because it would also have to pass the Senate, where Majority Leader Reid has also blasted the GOP's plan as irresponsible.
If the House fails to pass either a continuing resolution or a spending bill that can get through the Senate and receive President Obama's signature by March 4th, the result will be a government shutdown. As recently as yesterday, conservative members of the GOP urged their party to shut the government down instead of reaching a compromise with President Obama and members of the Senate.