Facing politically painful budget choices, House conservatives and Senate moderates are heading in different directions.

Determined to cut spending at all costs, House conservatives are demanding offsets for new hurricane recovery spending for the Gulf that is included in a $91.1 billion supplemental spending bill headed for the House floor Wednesday. They'll put Gulf recovery funds on the table for offsets but refuse to require tax expenditures to meet the same offset requirements.

In the Senate this week, Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) are planning to offer an amendment to the Budget Resolution that would provide an additional $7 billion for education and health programs. The money would help prevent budget cuts to key health and education programs by allowing Congress to restore funding for those programs to Fiscal Year 2005 levels without requiring off-setting cuts in other accounts.