The White House yesterday threatened to veto the House fiscal 2013 Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill -- including funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- which heads to the floor for debate today.

Among the numerous concerns that prompted the veto threat were spending cuts for NOAA. The CJS appropriations bill includes $5 billion for the agency, which is $68 million above last year's enacted levels but $93 million below the president's request.

The administration "strongly opposes" the reduction from Obama's request because it "would impact negatively NOAA's ability to support the nation's fisheries and oceans stewardship programs such as protected species programs, which would be cut by $16 million below the FY 2013 Budget request and $20 million below the FY 2012 enacted level," the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

Such cuts could delay permitting, which could have negative impacts on a variety of industries, including fisheries, oil and gas development and coastal construction, OMB's statement said.

However, Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Rules Committee, brushed the veto threat aside during yesterday's meeting to set an open rule for floor debate of the CJS bill.

He referred to the wording of OMB's statement: "If the president were presented with H.R. 5326, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill." That language is often used in official statements of administration policy to warn that the president likely will veto legislation.

"The fact some staff members may recommend to the president that he veto legislation does not necessarily mean that he is going to veto legislation," Dreier said. "I, my number of years here, have concluded that only when the administration says the following, 'The president will veto,' does that mean the veto is imminent and going to happen."

Dreier said veto threats are often made to encourage the House to work with the Senate to reconcile their different spending proposals into one bill that incorporates the administration's positions.

The White House has indeed threatened to veto all GOP spending plans, which it says are well below spending caps agreed upon during last year's deficit-reduction deal (E&ENews PM, April 18).

The overall proposed $51.1 billion CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 5326) is $731 million below the Obama administration's request and $1.6 billion below last year's enacted levels.

Democrats and Republicans agreed that the spending plan is a starting point and will become a different bill before it ends up on the president's desk -- especially after what is expected to be a long day of debate and votes on amendments that likely will last well into the night.

While members of both parties applauded having an open rule, which will allow amendments to be offered on the floor, Democrats voted against the rule due to measures added to it aimed at speeding unrelated legislation. The rule passed 7-3.