Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner presented his newly forged budget deal to his Republican colleagues at a private meeting this morning, outlining his plan to avert another government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling as a parting gift to his successor.
The deal would increase federal spending by $80 billion over two years and raise the federal borrowing limit through 2017. The 144-page bill, which was released Monday shortly before midnight, was welcomed by Democrats who have been pushing for budget negotiations all year.
“We have a budget agreement,” said outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) after the meeting of House Republicans where the outlines of the deal were presented.
Boehner (R-Ohio), who will step down on Oct. 30, added that the alternative was a clean debt ceiling suspension with no extra funding for troops. “This is a good deal.”
In brokering the compromise, which could hit the House floor as early as Wednesday, Boehner conceded that he was cleaning a “dirty barn” for his likely replacement as speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Ryan wasn’t involved in the secretive negotiations.
[Congressional leaders, White House reach two-year budget deal]
In fact, Ryan strongly condemned the way the deal was assembled, explaining that he had yet to actually lay eyes on it.
“About the process, I can say this: I think the process stinks,” Ryan said.
Ryan added that “under new management,” the “people’s business” would be conducted differently.
Boehner conceded the deal is being pushed through because he didn’t want the new speaker “to walk into a dirty barn full of you know what.” He agreed that the package should have been assembled in a more inclusive way, saying: “This is not the way to run a railroad.”
The pact was negotiated privately by Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The small group kept a tight lid on the negotiations, only revealing the deal once it was complete.
Vice President Biden praised the deal on Tuesday.
“The last seven years, we’ve gone from crisis to recovery and we’re on the verge of being able to have a genuine economic resurgence here,” Biden said. “And what we’ve put together is a good deal. No one got everything they wanted. But it will last for two years and it will prevent us from lurching from crisis to crisis.”
“Democrats and Republicans have come to a responsible agreement that places the needs of our nation above Republicans’ partisan agenda,” Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement on Tuesday. “While this agreement is not perfect, it addresses both investment in domestic priorities that benefit the middle class and defense spending. And with this agreement, we avoid a major threat to jobs and the economy.”
Early indications were that some key Senate Republicans were also on board.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he will support the budget deal because “it restores all but $5 billion of the defense requirements.” He said if the budget agreement passes he could move quickly to adjust and pass the National Defense Authorization Act that was recently vetoed by President Obama over budget concerns.
McCain’s backing all but ensures the support of other defense hawks, including GOP presidential candidate Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.).
“We’re in a box here,” Graham said. “But if Sen. McCain is okay with it, then I’ll probably be okay with it.”
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Following the Tuesday morning meeting, some conservatives complained that the negotiations were conducted only by leaders without the input of committee chairs and rank-and-file members. But they’re unlikely to have the numbers to derail the pact as long as Democrats and moderate Republicans stay on board.
“I don’t know if this thing could pass,” said Rep. John Flemming (R-La.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus. “It could break apart and we could begin tackling this piecemeal well into Paul Ryan’s speakership.”
Centrists like Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said the deal isn’t perfect but a compromise that prevents default and gives certainty to the military while making long-term reforms to Social Security and Medicare.
“I think it’s a pretty easy choice to make,” “It’s a compromise and that means we had to give some things up that we don’t want but we got some great things.”
The plan is for the House to vote as early as Wednesday.
Pelosi embraced the agreement Tuesday morning, signaling that the 188 House Democrats could provide a large portion of the vote needed to get a majority vote in the House.
“The bipartisan budget package unveiled last night represents real progress for hard-working families across the country,” Pelosi said. “I look forward to working toward House passage of this proposal this week. Next, we must move forward to complete the appropriations for FY2016 and keep government open.”
If Pelosi and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) can deliver votes from most, if not all, of their members, Boehner will only have to win the support of about 40 to 50 Republicans in order to pass the deal.
It would also take the pressure off Ryan, who is expected to be elected this week to replace Boehner as speaker. Conservatives will be closely watching whether Ryan supports the deal.
“I hope Paul Ryan will let us know how he feels about the process,” Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) said Monday after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans.
[Can Paul Ryan disarm the Freedom Caucus?]
White House officials also weighed in to back the proposal.
“The agreement reached by congressional leaders last night meets these key tests: It provides substantial relief from harmful spending cuts, and it does so equally on the defense and non-defense sides of the budget,” one White House official in an e-mail.
The deal isn’t a complete victory for Democrats, who were pushing for even more spending increases and hoped to pass an increase in the federal borrowing limit without including it in a broader budget deal. President Obama has insisted that the debt limit not be used as a negotiating tool for spending cuts. The deal allows Obama to say he secured a bargain on a scale that has not been seen since the 2013 agreement between Ryan and the Senate Budget Committee’s then-chairman, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
Democrats still get to celebrate a messaging victory and will likely take credit for the deal. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of leadership, pointed out that the proposal is the kind of spending agreement he and other Democrats have been promoting.
“For months, we Democrats have asked for a budget that increases spending significantly above sequester levels and does so in a way that is equally balanced between defense and key middle class programs,” Schumer said. “This agreement does both.”
The agreement includes about $80 billion in spending increases over two years, divided equally between defense and domestic programs, with $50 billion in new spending in the first year and $30 billion in the second.
Those increases would be paid for with savings from changes to the Social Security disability insurance fund and Medicare payments to doctors and other health-care providers. New revenue would be raised by auctioning off portions of the government owned broadcast spectrum, selling oil from the strategic oil reserve and by cracking down on audits of large business partnerships.
It also includes an additional $16 billion over two years from off-budget spending increases from the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund. That portion would not need to be offset, but Democrats previously opposed using the money for defense-only spending. In addition, a premium increase for Medicare Part B recipients would be prevented from going into effect.
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