House GOP Votes Against Tax Hikes : Deficit: Majority at Republican Conference opposes revenue increases, but the President meets with top lawmakers to spur negotiations anyway.

WASHINGTON —  President Bush and five top congressional leaders renewed their pledge Wednesday to seek agreement on a $50-billion deficit-cutting plan by early August, despite a 2-to-1 vote by House Republicans opposing any new taxes as part of a budget summit package.

The President, who has said higher taxes will be required to bring down an estimated deficit of $168.8 billion next year, advanced no new proposals to bipartisan negotiators during a 90-minute meeting before he took off on a four-state Western trip.

But he agreed to meet again Monday with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate in hopes of spurring faster progress in the talks, which began two months ago and are reported to be lagging.

“There’s a lot of work still to be done,” the President told reporters on Air Force One.

“It’s going to be hard--very, very difficult” to meet the August deadline, said House Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), a participant in the White House negotiating session with Bush and his top advisers.

Bush had high praise for Gephardt, saying that his frequent Democratic critic was doing a “first-class job” on the budget summit talks. But the President added: “We’ve still got some problems out there. . . . The way it was outlined to me, there is some agreement, but I don’t think we can call it total agreement at this time.”

Gephardt and Budget Director Richard G. Darman intend to continue meeting this week and will report results to him next week, Bush said.

In an indirect admonition to GOP critics of his reversal on taxes, the President added: “The deficit problem is so serious that there must be a bipartisan, responsible answer, and I will keep encouraging White House negotiators and Republicans . . . to go forward.”

The meeting came after the House Republican Conference appeared to take issue with the President for abandoning his “no new taxes” campaign vow and expressing support for tax revenue increases as part of a deficit reduction pact.

Rep. Dick Armey (R-Tex.), sponsor of the GOP resolution declaring opposition to all tax increases, said it was not aimed at the President but was intended to “send a message to the Democrats” on the importance of making deep spending cuts as part of any deficit agreement.

But Democrats denounced the GOP action as “regrettable,” and White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater brushed off the resolution by saying the President already was aware of House Republicans’ views.

“I don’t think it’s helpful,” said Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.). “But we’re not going to be derailed in our effort to reach agreement by a statement from the House Republican Conference or any individual’s statements.”

Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell of Maine, who was criticized by name in the GOP resolution for insisting on a tax rate increase on the wealthiest Americans in return for Democratic agreement to a capital gains tax cut, declined to comment on the action.

“This is essentially a dispute between House Republicans and the President,” Mitchell said.

Both the House GOP resolution and Mitchell’s comment were discussed at the meeting with the President, said Foley, who declined to describe Bush’s reaction to the no new taxes statement by his political allies.

The episode illustrated the partisan tensions underlying the discussions on how to reduce spending and raise revenues by about $50 billion in the year starting Oct. 1 to head off $100 billion in automatic cuts in outlays for defense and most domestic programs.

Foley and Mitchell cautioned that any agreement must be ratified by a majority of Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate--a result that could be jeopardized if House Republicans refuse to go along with tax increases as part of a summit package.

In another development, the House approved legislation to require the President and Congress to submit a balanced budget early next year for fiscal year 1992.

The bill, which sailed through by a vote of 282 to 144, was regarded as political cover for Democrats who voted against a proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that failed by only seven votes Tuesday.

House sources predicted that the bill would die at the end of this session because of Senate inaction.