House Republican leaders this week were struggling to secure a deal with their rank and file members on a 2017 budget that remains true to their conservative principles, but also adheres to a deal cut with Democrats to increase discretionary federal spending to $1.07 trillion.
Republicans have already blown past their self-imposed schedule, which called for advancing a budget proposal out of committee this week. A presentation on a budget plan that lawmakers were expecting Tuesday morning was canceled while Republican leaders look for a proposal that can unite the party.
The trouble for leaders is that conservative members are debating whether they can scale back the spending plan somehow, a move that would blow up last year’s two-year budget deal. The most conservative wing of the House GOP met privately in a House office building Tuesday night to begin pondering whether they can back any budget plan that busts budget caps aimed at reducing the nation’s deficit and debt.
The spending caps were signed into law in 2011 and have been skirted every year through last-minute bipartisan deals.
This year is no different. The House Budget Committee is floating a proposal that would increase spending beyond the caps by $30 billion, for a total of $1.07 trillion in federal government funding for fiscal 2017. That top number was agreed by Republican and Democratic lawmakers last year.
But conservatives are balking.
“I am not comfortable with the five years of endless promises of financially responsible spending cuts that never occur, in exchange for spending increases.” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told the Washington Examiner.
Last year, Republicans lured conservatives into supporting the budget deal by adding a provision to gut Obamacare. This year, there is no Obamacare provision to attract fiscal conservatives, which has many thinking about trying to offset the additional spending with $30 billion in spending cuts.
Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, head of the Republican Study Group, which is the largest conservative faction in the GOP, said he has pitched a proposal to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that could satisfy Republicans.
Rather than asking the GOP to vote solely on a $1.07 trillion proposal, Flores wants votes on legislation that would rein in entitlement costs, which would enable long-term savings and would tackle the increasing costs on the rarely touched mandatory side of the budget such as Medicare and welfare spending.
“That is where the cuts need to be,” Flores told the Washington Examiner. “That is the area that drives our debt.”
Flores and most House conservatives have been clamoring for offsets to the budget, and Ryan is now searching for an avenue to bring provisions to the House floor that will shrink spending.
Ryan meets Thursday to discuss the budget with an advisory committee made up of Flores, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and other faction leaders. He’s also “reaching out to the chairs,” of the House committees, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., told the Examiner.
Budget Committee Chairman Price, R-Ga., said the proposal he’s floating balances the budget and would also include ways “to achieve mandatory savings,” according to budget committee staff.
Some conservatives say they won’t support a budget until they vote on the cuts.
Still, the proposal won’t necessarily win over the most conservative Republicans, who argue that just voting on measures to reduce costs doesn’t guarantee they will become law.
“That’s the hard part,” Flores said. “There are no guarantees.”
Flores said he believes the Senate won’t touch a bill that cuts entitlements, especially in an election year.
Among the questions GOP leaders are weighing, Flores said, is “if it doesn’t become law, how far can you get it” in Congress.
Hard-line fiscal conservatives want more than promises.
“Before I will vote for a budget, the spending cuts have to occur first to offset any spending increases desired in the discretionary part of the budget,” Brooks said.
Lawmakers are hoping to pass a budget by an April 15 deadline.
