White House says no on amendment

WASHINGTON - A balanced-budget amendment heading for a House vote this week could impose serious risks on the economy and force cuts to essential programs such as Medicare and Social Security, the White House said Tuesday.

It said it strongly opposed the amendment and said members of Congress should "find bipartisan common ground to restore us to a sustainable fiscal path."

The debt-ceiling agreement that set up the bipartisan supercommittee commissioned with reducing the debt also required that Congress vote on a balanced-budget amendment. The version being taken up by the House would require that Congress not spend more than it receives in revenues unless three-fifths of both the House and Senate vote to do so. Proposed amendments to the Constitution must be approved by two-thirds majorities in both chambers and be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.