(CNN)Congressional
leaders and the White House reached a major deal Monday to avoid a
potential fiscal calamity, but not before many Republicans were left
fuming that their party leadership had given too much away to their
Democratic adversaries.
The
agreement, which would raise domestic and defense spending by $80
billion and lift the national borrowing limit until March 2017, could be
voted on by the House as soon as Wednesday -- the same day the GOP is
expected to nominate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, to replace retiring
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, as House speaker. The deal prompted a tense
session among House Republicans Monday night in the basement of the
Capitol.
The final details were still
being ironed out late into the night Monday, including cuts to the
Social Security disability program and to Medicare. But the deal was the
product of weeks of negotiations led by Boehner, who is furiously
trying to take the divisive fiscal issues off the plate for Ryan before
his successor takes office. If the deal passes, Ryan could have a clear
path to do his job without the fiscal brinksmanship that damaged
Boehner's speakership.
Still, the
private talks and the frantic effort to push the measure into law only
prompted sharp criticism from many House and Senate Republicans, who
contended that Boehner gave away too much in the name of getting a deal.
Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, strongly objected to the deal.
"We're
not just here to take commands," Amash said. "People back home expect
us to participate in the process. I hope that Paul Ryan will let us know
how he feels about the process."
Ryan,
who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, deliberately
took a low profile and refused to weigh in on the deal, declining to
comment to reporters and not saying a word about it during a private
meeting with fellow House Republicans.
At that meeting, however, the tension was rife.
Louisiana
Republican Rep. John Fleming told reporters Boehner essentially "threw
committee chairmen under the bus" and suggested this big deal was being
dropped on members now because the committees failed to do their work.
But,
in Fleming's telling, House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price,
R-Georgia, pushed back, saying that he was in fact working on fiscal
reforms but was told by leadership to stand down.
Roughly
10 House conservatives got up and complained in the meeting about the
process of cutting a major deal and rushing it to the floor without
going through regular order, lawmakers said.
Rep.
Walter Jones, a conservative from North Carolina, said he still was
waiting on the details -- but added that he "would not be blackmailed"
into voting for a debt limit increase.
Across the Capitol, the complaints were just as sharp.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, "It's too early to tell (but) I'm leaning no" on the budget deal.
"I'm not necessarily in a position where I think it's in the best interest of our country," he said.
Senate
GOP Whip John Cornyn, the No. 2 in his conference, added: "It's a mixed
bag, there is no question about it. I don't think you'll hear anybody
popping any champagne corks."
While
there is consternation in the ranks, many expect there will still be
ample support from Democrats -- and a large enough number of Republicans
-- to pass the deal later this week. That's largely because the bill
would increase defense spending to alleviate the pain felt by
across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, enough to win the
backing of the sizable number of GOP defense hawks.
But
Sen. John McCain says he will support the deal, even though it is $5
billion short on defense funding in 2016 and more than that in 2017.
"I think it is saleable," he told reporters after leaving a Senate GOP Conference meeting.
The
product was the result of weeks of negotiations between Boehner, Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. The bill would raise spending caps
by $80 billion -- $50 billion in the first year and $30 billion in the
second year -- divided equally between defense and domestic programs.
Even
though Ryan's fingerprints aren't on the deal -- a deliberate move by
the presumptive speaker and Boehner -- the framework of the agreement is
very similar to the two-year budget deal he crafted in 2013 when he
chaired the budget panel with his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Patty
Murray, D-Washington.
The new spending
under the accord would be offset by sales from the strategic petroleum
oil reserve, use of public airwaves for telecommunications companies and
changes to the crop insurance program — among other measures.
Moreover,
the deal would spread out increases in Medicare premiums over time so
beneficiaries don't feel them acutely. It would extend the 2% cuts
scheduled for Medicare to extend an additional year.
It
would also overhaul the Social Security disability trust fund in an
attempt to prevent a 20% reduction in cuts to benefits. The $5 billion
in savings would come from redistributing payroll benefits, not cutting
them, sources said.
The plan includes
more money for the Pentagon's overseas contingency account, and it would
repeal a provision in Obamacare forcing workers to automatically enroll
in employer-sponsored health care.
Despite
the GOP concerns, if Pelosi agrees to back the package, and Boehner can
deliver a large segment of his conference, it could be enough to
overcome opposition from conservative factions.
Rep.
Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina, said that "big broad strokes" were
presented to members Monday night "that all sounded wonderful and maybe
even too good to be true."
Indeed, many
GOP lawmakers in both sides of the Capitol were disappointed that party
leaders couldn't get more from the White House by making such a huge
concession -- to raise the national debt limit for longer than a year --
especially since this issue has been so contentious during Boehner's
nearly five years as speaker.
"I have
some concerns," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. "You hope that in a debt
limit context that you actually reduce spending. That's the idea to --
as you raise the debt limit, deal with the underlying debt crisis that
we have."
But the deal may ultimately
pass because lawmakers realize they have little choice as they stare at a
potential default next week.
"It's better than no deal at all," said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia.
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