Morning Roundup: House Republicans Divided on a Budget (Again) Edition
Speaker Ryan has been trying for weeks to rally his conference around a budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2017, with last night’s House GOP conference meeting set up to be their final pitch to the conference. How did it go? Shocker: not well. While House Republican leaders tried to sound optimistic in the press, the House Freedom Caucus has announced that it is officially opposed to the GOP proposal. Why does that matter? Given the numbers, House Republicans can’t pass a budget without their votes. Of course, their other option is to stop trying to move to the right and instead stick to last Fall’s deal and pass it with a bipartisan vote…
A look at today’s stories shows just how doomed the Republican budget proposal seems to be:
Politico: House Freedom Caucus to break with leadership on budget
“The House Freedom Caucus will oppose a $1.07 trillion budget backed by Republican leaders, likely assuring that the fiscal package will fail if put up for a vote on the House floor.”
“‘The Freedom Caucus is officially a no,’ said Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador. ‘We've been talking to leadership for several weeks, giving them the opportunity to make some good pitches to us, and so far everything we have heard has been less than stellar.’"
“The opposition means the budget is unlikely to have enough support to garner 218 votes to pass as the Freedom Caucus will vote en bloc. That greatly complicates the House's ability to move forward with the 12 appropriations bills that fund the government at every level — again miring GOP leaders in a budget fight that has often resulted in Republicans relying on Democrats to keep the government funded.”
CQ Budget Tracker: Republican Revolt
“An effort by House Republican leaders to push forward a fiscal 2017 budget resolution suffered a major setback Monday night, when the conservative Freedom Caucus bucked party leaders to declare its opposition to the plan. The decision likely dooms efforts to pass the current version of the budget framework in the full House, since it means the GOP probably would be unable to muster the 218 votes needed to secure passage of a partisan plan that Democrats are sure to oppose.”
“‘If you know it's not going to pass or get taken up, why even go to the trouble?’ asked Rep. John Fleming, R-La., a Freedom Caucus member. ‘Many of us are in agreement that, again, it's just a charade.’"
Huffington Post: House Conservatives Say No To Republican Budget
“Freedom Caucus members took an official position against the $1.07 trillion budget that's scheduled for a committee vote on Wednesday. The conservatives took issue with the top-line spending number, arguing that Republicans should go back to the $1.04 trillion level under automatic spending cuts known as sequestration that were set in 2011.”
“If there is no budget, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has intimated there won't be appropriations bills. A return to the regular legislative process for appropriations was a key tenet of Ryan's pitch for the speakership.”
The Hill: House GOP inches forward on budget
“‘I feel we made great progress,’ House Majority [Leader] Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters as he left the meeting.”
“‘The jury is still out,’ [Rep. Mark] Meadows said Monday evening.”