By Pete Kasperowicz - 04/17/12 01:18 PM ET

 

House Republicans on Tuesday afternoon beat back a Democratic attempt to halt consideration of a rule deeming that the GOP's 2013 budget resolution has passed both the House and the Senate.

 

Republicans have said they need to approve this "deeming resolution" in order to let House appropriators start work on spending bills for the year. But as expected, House Democrats opposed the resolution, which is part of a rule easing rules on the use of firearms on federal land.

 

As soon as the rule was brought up, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) raised a point of order against it. But in debate, Moore focused less on the technicality of whether a valid point of order exists, and much more on her opposition to the budget resolution itself, which the House approved in March.

 

"This budget finds a jaw-dropping 62 percent of its $5.3 trillion in non-defense budget cuts over 10 years from programs that have served the most vulnerable of our society, the poor, and I might add, the most vulnerable, women and children," she said.

 

Moore added that the GOP budget "takes aim at Medicare," notably by turning into a healthcare voucher program for people younger than 55 years old.

 

Moore spent part of her debate time trying to get Republicans to admit that the so-called "deeming resolution" would deem that both the House and Senate have approved the GOP budget plan. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said it would, but only temporarily, and added that this step is needed so the House can continue with its appropriations work.

 

"What deeming applies to is that these are for procedural considerations [that are] allowed to go forward until such time as an actual budget has indeed passed," Bishop said.

 

"So the answer to your question is actually both: temporarily yes, long-term, obviously, no," he added. "At some time, the Senate has to do their work. Hopefully they will do it soon, and then this issue would be moot."

 

Following that brief debate, the House voted 234-175 in favor of considering the rule. That vote allowed the House to proceed to an hour-long debate on the rule, which will be followed by a vote on passage.

 

Once the rule is passed, the House was expected to take up the firearms bill, H.R. 4089, and eight amendments that have been made in order.

 

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