House panel adopts budget but defense, spending hawks remain at odds

The GOP-led House Budget Committee has given party-line approval to a sweeping balanced budget plan that adds $36 billion to President Barack Obama's request for overseas war funds but with restrictions on the money that are opposed by a sizable bloc of the party's defense hawks.

The panel rejected a move by GOP leaders to placate pro-defense Republicans who objected to a requirement that more than $20 billion of the additional money be accompanied by spending cuts to finance the additional spending. The panel retained the requirement for such so-called offsets.

The nonbinding measure offers prescriptions that would balance the budget within a decade, relying on deep but often unspecified cuts to the social safety net.