By a party-line vote, House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved deep cuts to the federal government's budget.

Republicans on the committee voted in favor of a 19 percent cut to the budget that includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

"I don't know what we're going to do with our Indian programs," Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia), the ranking Democrat on the House Interior Subcommittee, said at a markup yesterday.

"All of them are going to be adversely affected," Moran added.

Democrats offered an alternative to raise the so-called 302(b) allocations to $1.058 trillion. But Republicans rejected it in favor of 302(b) allocations of $967 billion.

The committee did not post the 302(b) allocations on its website. But Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky), the chairman, said they could be changed as the appropriations process continues throughout the summer and the fall.

"The 302(b)s are not set in concrete," Rogers said at the markup.

The $967 billion figure comes from the budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the former Republican vice presidential candidate. His budget increases funding for defense while cutting Indian and other domestic programs.

Along those lines, the committee approved a fiscal year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill that includes $73 billion in funding, an increase of $1.4 billion above the fiscal year 2013 level and approximately $2.4 billion above current levels, which are subject to sequestration.

Get the Story:
Press Release: Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Legislation (House Appropriations Committee 5/21)
House GOP panel approves agency budget cuts far deeper than those approved in March (AP 5/21)
House panel approves spending cuts, assumes more to come (Reuters 5/21)
House panel OKs big spending cuts (Politico 5/21)
Here comes Sequester: Part 2 (The Hill 5/22)

Committee Notice:
Full Committee Mark Up - FY 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill and Report on the Suballocation of Budget Allocations for FY 2014 (May 21, 2013)