Susan Ferrechio reports for the Washington Examiner on Republican discord surrounding the federal budget.
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.
