The Hill News

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told a conservative conference Thursday night that House Republicans would vote next week on a spending bill that cuts “more than $100 billion” in government funding for the current fiscal year.

Boehner’s announcement followed a closed-door GOP meeting in which lawmakers were briefed on plans by House appropriators to deepen spending cuts after opposition from conservatives. The cuts will come in a measure funding the government for the remainder of the year.

“Let me be clear about this: We are going to exceed our pledge in the Pledge to America,” Boehner said in remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference. “Next week we are going to cut more than $100 billion in discretionary spending on this year’s account.”

The Speaker’s declaration was met with rousing cheers from the conservative crowd. GOP leaders had initially outlined plans to cut $74 billion in the funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, while delivering more cuts in future legislation. But Tea Party-aligned Republicans balked, demanding the leadership act more quickly to fulfill its $100 billion pledge.

In a 12-minute speech, Boehner repeated his critique of President Obama’s agenda as a “job-crushing spending binge,” and he predicted the administration’s proposed budget would spend too much, tax too much and borrow too much. “With all due respect,” Boehner said, “this isn’t winning the fu! ture. This is spending the future.”

The Speaker pleaded for support from conservatives, saying that despite the new House GOP majority, “Washington is still a Democrat-run town.”

He also paid tribute to the Tea Party movement, comparing it to the Reagan Revolution and saying its activists were “calling us to our senses.”

“Take this walk with me,” Boehner urged the crowd. “We need to do this together.”