Today, the President signed another Continuing Resolution (CR), that will fund the federal government for an additional two weeks, avoiding a potential government shutdown. The CR will cut $4 billion from 2011 funding levels, but is set expire on March 18th. Congress must pass another funding measure before then to keep the government running.

The new CR eliminates eight programs that Republicans claim the Obama administration had asked to cut in its budget for next year. In several cases, however, the President had actually intended to redirect the funding to other areas. The current bill would simply cut those programs entirely.

Those slated for elimination include: Election Assistance Grants, the Broadband Direct Loan Subsidy, the Smithsonian Institution Legacy Fund, the Striving Readers Program, the LEAP program, Even Start, Smaller Learning Communities, and highway funding. Taken together, they amount to a $1.24 billion reduction. In addition, the bill would eliminate funding for $2.7 billion in earmarks from the previous year.  Many of the other cuts that Republicans have proposed and that consumer groups have vigorously fought – including those targeting youth programs  – will continue to be debated as both sides work on a longer-term budget deal.