Republican leaders Tuesday defended a massive spending and debt limit deal in response to significant criticism from conservatives that the accord is fiscally irresponsible.
“I make no apologies for this two-year caps deal,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “I think it’s the best we could have done in a divided government.”
The Kentucky Republican added, “The alternatives were much worse.”
Republicans found themselves playing defense a day after President Trump announced the bipartisan deal, which still requires approval from both chambers.
It would suspend the nation’s borrowing limit until July 31, 2021, and allow Congress to exceed federally imposed spending caps by $320 billion over the next two fiscal years.
Fiscal hawks slammed the $1.4 trillion deal.
Sen. Ted Cruz called the deal irresponsible and a “missed opportunity to rein in excessive government spending.”
House Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Johnson of Louisiana criticized the high price tag, which comes with about $77 billion in offsets, half of what the Trump administration was seeking.
“No new controls are put in place to constrain runaway spending, and a two-year suspension on the debt limit simply adds fuel to the fire,” Johnson said.
Many House and Senate conservatives are likely to vote “no” on the measure, Johnson said, but it can still pass thanks to a coalition of most Democrats and some Republicans in both chambers, including GOP leadership, high-ranking committee members, and appropriators.
It will also likely win approval of defense hawks thanks to a hefty increase in military spending. The measure provides $738 billion for defense, a 3% increase.
“From our perspective,” McConnell said. “We like the defense number.”
Outside conservative groups had little to say about the deal that was positive.
They pointed to the national deficit climbing toward $1 trillion and the debt topping $22 trillion.
“The budget deal reached by congressional leadership is yet another disgrace that will leave the American taxpayer to foot the bill,” Adam Brandon, president of the conservative FreedomWorks, said. “Washington has all but abandoned economic sanity.”
Brandon and other conservatives accused the GOP of forfeiting its long-held position on fiscal responsibility.
But Republicans who support the deal said they are agreeing to it in order to prevent a far worse scenario for the party that would result from an unpopular government shutdown.
The federal government shuttered for 35 days earlier this year thanks to a partisan standoff over federal spending. Polls showed Republicans were blamed more than Democrats for the impasse.
Republicans are desperate to avoid another shutdown this year.
“I think the absence of chaos is to the advantage of both sides,” McConnell said. “Particularly our side.”
Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota touted an unwritten part of the accord, a pledge from Democrats not to insist on a “poison pill” provision in the upcoming spending process, which will eliminate some of the last-minute haggling that holds up legislation.
Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, another member of the GOP leadership team, said getting a spending deal that facilitates the passage of legislation to fund the government on time will lower costs by allowing agencies to plan more efficiently.
“If you’ve got the money you have to spend at the beginning of that year, you spend it a lot more wisely,” Blunt said.
House Republican leaders criticized Democrats for opposing more offsets but are planning to whip the conference to support the bill, they informed the rank and file on Tuesday.
Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, in a memo to GOP lawmakers, promoted the wins for the GOP included in the deal.
The measure preserves the longstanding prohibition against taxpayer funding for abortions, Scalise noted, and can provide no new restrictions on the president’s existing ability to transfer funds to build a wall along the southern border. The memo included a tweet from Trump backing the deal.
Scalise will have difficulty convincing many conservatives.
Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee issued a statement comparing congressional spending to “someone living beyond their means,” with a big mortgage and luxury cars.
“A normal bank would never loan this person more money. Would you?” Green said. “In this case, the bank is the American taxpayer.”
