House Rejects Conservatives’ Deficit Cutting Plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has rejected a budget pushed by its most conservative members with deeper spending cuts and far faster deficit reduction than a plan being pushed by Republican leaders.

The 285-136 vote to defeat the conservatives' package moved the chamber a step closer to approval of the main GOP budget later Thursday. That plan is led by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.

The conservatives' proposal would sharply curtail Medicaid and other domestic programs and change the shape of Medicare.

It claims to turn this year's $1.2 trillion federal deficit into a balanced budget in five years — which most analysts consider unachievable because few lawmakers would vote for the package's proposed cuts.

None of the competing budgets by Ryan, President Barack Obama or House Democrats claim to balance the budget within the next decade.