Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner praised a sweeping budget and debt-ceiling deal GOP leaders introduced Monday night, calling it a “good deal” that ensures an increase in military spending and some entitlement reform.
“This agreement isn’t perfect,” Boehner said, but said the alternative deal would have resulted in no new increases in defense spending and no entitlement reform.
The deal, which lifts sequester budget caps and the debt ceiling in exchange for reforming the Social Security Disablity Insurance program, earned predictable criticism from fiscally conservative Republicans, many of whom are likely to vote against it when it comes to the floor for a vote this week.
“This is really the worst of the worst,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., said as he left a private meeting where Boehner, R-Ohio, unveiled the deal. “There was a lot of skepticism in the room.”
The deal includes all of the elements conservatives despise, including a move to rush the bill to the floor without committee consideration or adequate time to read the 144-page measure.
The accord would also raise spending by $80 billion over two years, a nonstarter with fiscal hawks whose goal in Congress is to reduce the budget.
“I will not be voting for it because in my view it is financially irresponsible,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said after leaving the meeting.
The bill was written to pass with bipartisan support, however, which means the support of Brooks, Fleming and other conservative Republicans will not likely be needed if Democrats agree to back the deal in numbers great enough to achieve a 218-vote majority.
The deal is likely to pick up GOP backing among lawmakers eager to boost military spending. The deal commits to an equal increase in spending across domestic and defense budgets.
“As a whole I think for defense, it’s not bad,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.
