WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker John Boehner says read his lips: The freewheeling House debate over cutting federal spending won't derail actual reductions his Republican party promised on the campaign trail.
The new House Speaker is presiding over a budget debate in which any member can offer amendments to strip funding from various projects as Republicans promised during last fall's midterm elections. Hundreds of amendments have been filed on a bill to keep the government running past a March 4 deadline.
The Ohio Republican ended his weekly news conference Thursday by saying, quote, "Read my lips: we're going to cut spending." The comment harked back to former president George H.W. Bush's long-ago broken campaign promise to not raise taxes.
The plain-spoken Boehner quickly exited, saying off-stage, "I can't believe I just said that."
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.