If approved by Congress, the broad pact would allow House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) to resolve two of the thorniest fiscal hurdles before he resigns later this week. A lot of conservatives disliked that measure. Several aides said that, absent last-minute drama, it could be voted on by the House as early as Wednesday and by the Senate a day later.
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The legislation would also likely be paired with an increase in the federal borrowing limit through March 2017, preventing a potentially disastrous default next week.
Resolving both major fiscal issues would ease the burden for Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), who is expected to become House speaker when elections take place Thursday.
President Barack Obama walks across 17th street in Washington, Monday, October 26, 2015, with his Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, right, and Katie Fallon.
“I don’t like the use of the Overseas Contingency Operations budget to get around the budget caps”, he said.
The White House and congressional Republican leaders are close to reaching a bipartisan budget agreement that would resolve the stalemate over government funding and, if implemented, shift the threat of another shutdown until well after the 2016 presidential election. Democrats and the White House are pressing hard as well, demanding increases for domestic agencies on par with any Pentagon hikes. As Ryan was trying to decide whether he would seek the leadership post – or perhaps, more accurately, grappling with the fact that the uncertainty created by his colleagues changed the course of his career no matter what – Boehner and his aides were privately working toward a solution to the debt-limit problem.
Those funds would be divided equally between defense and nondefense spending, charting a compromise between Republican defense hawks pushing for more Pentagon spending and Democrats who wanted more spending on domestic programs as well.
GOP leaders briefed House and Senate Republicans on the deal’s outlines Monday night. Columnist Jay Bookman is right on the money: “Betrayal, outrage and fear drive their email fundraising; it is how they draw ratings points and Internet clicks, it is how they get themselves on Fox News”.
But Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, said it’s better that Ryan’s fingerprints are missing from this budget deal.
Asked if Ryan participated in the talks, Sessions said the deal was arranged and negotiated by Boehner and would be finalized by Boehner. The speaker is the leader of the 435-member House of Representatives. That money would be doled out evenly between defense and non-defense accounts, with $50 billion budgeted for the first year and $30 billion for the second. Offsetting spending cuts included reforms to the Agriculture department’s crop insurance program, a “site neutral” proposal that would curb Medicare payments for outpatient services provided by hospitals, and extending a 2 percentage point cut in Medicare payments to doctors through the tail end of a 10-year budget “window”. Those cuts could be problematic for Democrats who have insisted that there be no changes to Medicare or Social Security in a budget deal. Ryan has yet to comment on the deal, and Fleming said it “would be appreciated” if he explains where he stands before the speaker vote.
One of the main expenses: the deal would slow the rollout of scheduled hikes to Medicare premiums.
The GOP will score a victory with another provision that would do away with an Affordable Care Act requirement that larger companies automatically sign up workers for health care unless the workers specifically opt out. Republicans familiar with the agreement are calling it a big win for the party.
The closely held talks had appeared to be proceeding slowly but took on urgency over the weekend as House Republican leaders looked ahead to a debt limit vote this week that they feared they might not be able to pass as a stand-alone measure. Realistically, however, he may need not only to vote yes but to publicly rally support for any deal.
“We’d like to settle the topline for both years so that next year we could have a regular appropriations process”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told reporters on September 29th.
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On the floor, Reid signaled talks were moving forward as well.
