by Jason Reed, Reuters, February 18, 2010

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Friday to choke off cash to fund President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, intensifying a fight with Democrats over budget cuts and deficits.

The House move against the 2010 healthcare law -- one of Obama's main legislative victories -- is certain to be rejected by the Democratic-led Senate, but it has raised tensions over federal spending that could lead to a government shutdown....

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House Set to Approve Cuts; Time Short to Stop Shutdown
By David D. Herzenhorn, New York Times, February 18, 2011 9:26 PM ET

The House vote will set the stage for a standoff with Senate Democrats and the White House that each side has warned could lead to a government shutdown.

House descends into federal budget-cutting chaos, just as planned
By Gayle Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, February 18, 2011

House amendments to cut the federal budget kept coming Friday, with Senate Democrats and the White House steeling for a fight. But Republicans say it's 'the House working its will.'

House of Mirrors: A Week of Odd Allies, Sharp Shifts
By Janet Hook and Naftali Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2011

The House's weeklong debate over spending cuts exposed just how much the 2010 election has blurred the lines of authority in Washington.

Critical votes in the debate over a proposal to cut more than $61 billion this year have been decided by alliances that shift, break and re-form across party lines.

On Friday, old-guard Republicans teamed up with Democrats to defeat a push by tea-party conservatives to cut even more than the House Republican leadership proposal. Earlier in the week, Republican deficit hawks and liberal Democrats allied to kill a defense contract in the home state of House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio),,,,

Fervent G.O.P. Freshman Ignite Clash on Funds
By Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times, February 17/18, 2011

Pushing Cuts that Party Leaders See as Too Deep