Defense spending cuts rejected by House

And in a 181-244 vote, members rejected language from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to cut half of the increase, or $8.5 billion. Frank argued that some cuts need to be made to Defense, as the House was making cuts to all other government departments.

In other late Thursday votes, the House voted 176-249 against an amendment from Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) that would have barred funds from being used in Libya.

Also related to Libya, members approved an amendment (316-111) from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) that would prohibit spending in the bill in violation of the War Powers Resolution. But the House rejected language (162-265) from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) that would have blocked support for military operations.

Earlier in the day, the House voted to end aid to Libyan rebels, but rejected broader language defunding military operations there.

The House accepted an amendment (248-175) from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) that would prevent spending under the bill in violation of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Foxx said this language is needed to “reaffirm” that DOMA cannot be violated, and criticized the Obama administration for saying it has decided not to enforce that law.

Members turned away language (89-338) from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) that would ended all aid to Pakistan. The House rejected two similar amendments earlier Thursday.

An amendment from Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) that would have cut in half a $400 million discretionary fund used to build overseas infrastructure was rejected in a 169-257 vote.

Members accepted language (256-170) from Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) that would prohibit funds in the bill from being used to enforce a rule requiring contractors to disclose their political contributions as a condition of winning public contracts. Republicans have bristled at Obama administration plans to create such a requirement, and have already approved similar language in other bills this year.

After finishing amendment votes at about 6:50 p.m., the House was expected to continue working on amendments into Thursday night.