Durbin vows to oppose 'political' GOP cuts

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate's No. 2 Democrat said Sunday he hopes a federal shutdown can be averted, but some cuts Republicans seek are unacceptable.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois said, "We have agreed on a number as to the cut. Now we have to agree on the component parts of it and move forward."

But he warned, "The House Republicans lose all credibility when they decide that this fight isn't over the deficit, it isn't over the amount of spending cuts, but rather it's to debate and relitigate political issues that have been in Washington for decades."

"I can tell you there are some that are totally unacceptable," Durbin said. He cited "the idea that we're are going to close down the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to keep our air clean and our water pure" and "to close down Planned Parenthood funding."

He said he would "absolutely" oppose a plan with those cuts.

Durbin said he understood that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, "is in a very delicate and tough political position" with the right wing of his own caucus.

He also asserted, "The House Republican budget would eliminate up to 700,000 jobs in America."