House of Representatives building (Photo Courtesy AP)

UPDATE THURSDAY 12:15 PM - The House passed a budget deal Thursday that will keep the government running through late September while cutting $38.5 billion in federal spending. As expected, the deal passed on a 260-167 bipartisan vote - 179 Republicans and 81 Democrats voted to pass the measure (59 Republicans and 108 Democrats opposed it).

The Senate is now expected to approve the budget late Thursday. President Obama will have to sign the measure into law by midnight Friday to avert a government shutdown.

Debates began in the House Thursday on the Republican 2012 budget proposal attempting to shrink the federal government. The House was scheduled to vote in the afternoon on the spending bill for this year estimated to cut $38 billion in spending.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he expects it to pass with a bipartisan majority. There is no guess as to how many Republicans will file in to approve the proposal that many argue still fails to cut enough spending from the budget.

The legislation is a product of negotiations involving Boehner, President Obama and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Republicans dominating the House are expected to launch a debate on a 2012-and-beyond plan that is anticipating cuts of more than $6 trillion from the budget blueprint Obama laid out in February.

Earlier Thursday, President Obama met with the chairman of a presidential deficit reduction commission restated his call to “put everything on the table” in order to get the nation’s fiscal situation taken care of. “Everything” includes cutting down security spending, overhauling the tax code and expiring tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans – a provision of the Bush administration.