Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., betrays conservatism by working to avoid existing budget caps rather than embracing them.

McConnell is rightly concerned that the caps will require a $71 billion reduction in planned defense spending if no broader budget deal is reached. The Pentagon does need the money. But it’s not worth the extra $55 billion (or more) per year in utterly unnecessary domestic spending that busting the caps will entail.