Evening star., 1951-01-30
The Political Mill:
The Political Mill:
Coalition in House Kills
SingIe-Pockoge Budget
Republicans in Committee
Fail to Heed Economy PIeo
By Gould Lincoln

The single-package, omnibus budget
and appropriation bill for the Federal
Government has been tossed out on its
ear. combination of 18 Republican
members of the House Appropriations
Committee and 13 Democratic members
did the job. Only two Republicans voted
with Is Democrats in favor of the omni-
bus bill.
The omnibus bill offered the best
vehicle for cutting down on appropria-
tions and expenditures-in other words,
OF effecting economy. The Republicans
in Congress have been shouting "econ-
omize"; the Democrats. on the other
hand-certainly if you believe the Repub-
lcans-want to spend money So the
G. o. P. in the House committee takes
a swat at the omnibus bill. It doesn't
make sense.
There is dispute over whether the
omnibus bill. passed by the last session
of the last Congress, really saved money.
Certainly it gave opportunity for slic-
ing $550,000 900 off the total appropria-
tion through an amendment directing
the saving of that sum by the executive
branch of the Government. Also, there is
strong reason to believe that if separate
appropriation bills-old style-had been
passed by the Congress, the total would
have been still higher.
Old Method Ordered.
The coalition in the House Appropria-
tions Committee which killed the omni-
bus bill and ordered a resumption Of the
dozen separate bills method of appro-
priating was composed of Republicans
and administration Democrats The
White House has no use for the omni-
bus bill, according to reports. The
President has but single veto Of sucr
a measure-and it would be mighty tough
for a President to turn back to the
Congress without his approval measure
which carried the entire appropriation
for the Federal Government. Further,
the Truman administration, like the
Roosevelt administration before it, has
believed and still believes in spending
money. all it can lay its hands on.
The talk is that Chairman Cannon Of
the Appropriations Committee. who spon-
sored and brought about the omnibus
bill operation in the last Congress. was
too much of a czar; that he insisted
on debating to the various subcom-
mittees handling the separate chapters
of the omnibus bill, and that he stepped
on the Republican members toes by
cutting down the minority employees of
the committee; in other words, that the
action of the committee was blow al
Mr.. Cannon, personally. But whether it
was or not, the fact remains that the
Republicans in the committee took
shot at the economy method of making
appropriations and played into the
hands of the spenders.
Vote Was Overwhelming.
The vote in the committee doing away
with the omnibus bill was overwhelm-
ing-31 to 18. BY smaller vote mar
gin, 25 to %, the committeeman who
revolted against Mr.. Cannon undertook
to see to it the chairman should not
be left in position to take reprisal meas
ures against them. They voted that
they should have the right to approve
the subcommittee pointments-instead
of leaving the subcommittee naming to
the chairman alone. Presumably, some
of them feared that Mr.. Cannon would
withhold appointments they desired.
In the Senate, the omnibus bill is
popular, both with Republicans and with
many Democrats. 1t has been pet idea
OF Senator Byrd, Democrat, of Virginia
for long time-and Senator Byrd has
been the chief advocate of economy.
Since the appropriation bills all origi-
nate in the House, the hands of the
Senate seem tied in this fight. The
Senate might undertake to put all the
appropriation bills together in one meas
ure, after it received them from the
House. That would mean holding them
all until the Senate Appropriations Com
mittee had an opportunity to study the
whole flock, and to bring them into
some kind of proportion. This would
mean delay and the threat of summer
long session.
Leading Senators on both the Demo-
cratic and Republican sides of the
chamber insist that the Senate was able
to do a better job on appropriations
with the omnibus bill last year than
ever before.