House Spurns Reagan, Passes Its Own Budget

The House brushed aside a passionate plea from President Reagan not to “cripple” the military and approved a Democratic budget today that would cut Pentagon spending--guaranteeing a battle with the GOP-led Senate and the White House.

The party-line vote was 245 to 179.

The $994-billion budget allocates $285 billion for the military, $16 billion less than the GOP-led Senate’s budget approved last month with both Democratic and Republican support. Reagan, who wanted $320 billion for the military, is disappointed in both plans but prefers the Senate to the House.

Earlier, the House rejected, 280-145, on a nearly straight party line vote, a last-ditch Republican effort to provide more defense money--still less than Reagan wants and less than agreed to by the Senate. Democrats were solidly against the GOP plan and 32 Republicans defected.

Reagan wrote a blistering letter to House GOP leaders complaining the Democratic budget would scuttle his military program.

Reagan said the “radical anti-defense” Democratic budget would “cripple the combat readiness of our conventional forces and take unacceptable risks with our national security.”

“It would be wasteful and irresponsible to cut short this program by denying the funding necessary to carry it out,” Reagan wrote.

The House Republican alternative budget would have allocated $293 billion for the military, splitting the difference between the Senate and Democratic House plans. But the relatively low figure served as a warning to Reagan that he is unlikely to get all he wants.

“It’s quite clear the Democratic strategy was to beat the hell out of the defense program in order to placate social welfare programs,” complained House GOP leader Robert Michel of Illinois.