GOP proposes to cut billions from rail, food safety

House Republicans are setting up a big fight over federal spending, unveiling a partial list of 70 proposed cuts that will be debated next week.

Under the proposal, funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AmeriCorps and family planning would be among those eliminated completely. Proposed cuts would also affect Amtrak, energy, environment, food inspection, and a host of other federal programs.

The plan by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., includes eliminating $1 billion for high-speed rail, a top priority of President Obama and Vice President Biden. Obama will ask for $8 billion for high-speed rail service when he outlines his fiscal 2012 budget proposal next week.

Other cuts of $1 billion or more are proposed for the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the government's federal building fund.

Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and other top GOP leaders agreed at lunch today that federal spending needs to cut -- but they don't agree on what needs to be trimmed. See the video posted above.

In all, Rogers said the proposal would cut $74 billion from Obama's fiscal 2011 budget request. But since that request was never enacted, the Associated Press estimates the cuts would eliminate closer to $35 billion from the federal budget.

Federal spending and rising debt were centerpieces of the 2010 midterm elections, which put Republicans in power in the U.S. House. The GOP pledged to cut $100 billion, but some freshman lawmakers elected with the help of the Tea Party movement are seeking even deeper cuts.

"These cuts are not low-hanging fruit," Rogers said in a statement. " These cuts are real and will impact every district across the country."

The House next week will begin debate on a resolution to fund the government past March, when the current temporary budget expires. Spending cuts will be part of the new budget, which would cover government funding through Sept. 30.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters the budget resolution needs to cut spending "without cutting investments that create jobs, grow the economy and reduce the deficit."

USA TODAY's Richard Wolf has more on what happened between Obama and the GOP leaders in The Oval.