The deal prompted a tense session among House Republicans Monday night in the basement of the Capitol. It’s important that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, set to be elected speaker Thursday, is among the ayes.
Advertisement
But Salmon and other Republicans said Ryan would get leeway for how he navigates the immediate crises he inherits, including the debt ceiling, if it’s not dealt with before he assumes the speakership.
One House Republican critic, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, accuses Boehner of being “in league with the Democrats”.
Those increases would be offset by cuts in spending on Medicare and Social Security disability benefits, as well as savings or revenue from an array of other programs, including changes to the nation’s strategic petroleum reserves.
Defense and domestic program spending would be raised by $50 billion in fiscal 2016 and then increase those programs by $30 billion in fiscal 2017.
The tentative agreement reached Monday night would solve each of those problems.
The agreement, which would apply to fiscal years 2016 and 2017, also would suspend the country’s $18.1 trillion debt limit through March 2017.
Why two years rather than one? Those caps will frame spending negotiations between Mr. Obama’s successor and leaders of the next Congress.
“It represents the very worst of Washington – a last-minute deal that increases spending and debt under the auspices of fiscal responsibility”.
Raising the debt limit has been a political minefield in recent years.
It’s not the ever elusive “grand bargain”.
At a Monday press briefing, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: “We continue to urge Republicans to continue to engage constructively with Democrats to identify common ground” to complete a budget and debt limit deal.
In John Boehner’s final days as speaker of the House, lawmakers have reportedly struck a budget compromise to avoid both a government shutdown and a potential default on USA debt. According to the TWB/Bee, the agreement will likely face opposition from both Republicans and Democrats (Tribune Washington Bureau/Sacramento Bee, 10/27). Several members said they do not intend to support the bill even before the full details had been released, and complained about the #zombiebudget on Twitter. For now, it’s clear that many Republican voters are so exhausted of the GOP establishment’s stance on immigration that they are willing to vote for an outsider – even one that’s all bluster and no substance and is ideologically incoherent.
The current negotiations were largely conducted at the staff level, involving senior aides to Boehner, McConnell, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, and Sen.
The deal does not include a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank’s charter, which expired in June, but a reauthorization is already moving in a separate package in the House.
“We anticipate fierce resistance from conservative Republicans, but John Boehner knows how to get a deal done”, said Greg Valliere, the chief global strategist at Horizon Investments.
GOP defense hawks are a driving force, intent on reversing automatic budget cuts.
In July, Medicare actuaries predicted that monthly premiums would increase to about $159 for such beneficiaries, up from about $105.
Ryan is a 17-year incumbent who has a history of supporting the kind of immigration reform a few conservatives won’t accept. That is to say Ryan favors a comprehensive overhaul to immigration policy, including a path to legal status and perhaps citizenship for illegals.
And those conservative activists who helped push Mr. Boehner to an early retirement were not looking kindly on the agreement as details began to trickle out Monday. Two persuasive conservative groups, Heritage Action and Club for Growth, also said they would oppose the legislation. “He said he was going to try to clean the barn and this is a good start”.
JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS President Obama and congressional Republicans are close to a budget deal that lifts a 2011 spending cap called sequestration.
“It’s great news, frankly, if they can come up with a deal”, Houy said.
Advertisement
It is also a fitting coda for Mr. Boehner.
