House lawmakers closed in on approving a budget deal Wednesday afternoon that would lift the debt ceiling through March 2017, potentially avoiding a default and lessening the chances of a government shutdown.
Lawmakers are racing against a debt ceiling deadline of next Tuesday, which is when the nation’s borrowing authority runs out. House members were scheduled to vote Wednesday and were expected to ultimately approve the deal with a mix of Democratic and moderate Republicans.
The focus is quickly turning to the Senate, where Sen. Rand Paul has promised to filibuster the proposal, but Senate Republican leaders were “confident” they could push the measure to President Barack Obama’s desk. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also built in enough time to the debate to overcome Paul’s maneuvers.
Departing House Speaker John Boehner, who negotiated the agreement with Obama and congressional Democrats, hands the incoming speaker-designee, Paul Ryan, a much less contentious legislative slate, and perhaps some breathing room to begin his tenure without the threat of lurching from crisis to crisis.
The measure increases federal spending on defense and domestic programs over $80 billion for the next two years and suspends the nation’s debt limit through March 2017.
To pay for the higher levels, Boehner and congressional leaders used a mix of reforms to entitlement programs, including the Social disability insurance program and Medicare. They also raised some money from the sale of public airwaves to telecommunications companies and the sale of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. One provision to change the lower the rate of return for crop insurance drew the ire of farm state members on both sides of the aisle.
Congress will still need to pass a funding bill by December 11, and conservatives could still push controversial so-called “riders” to the bill, such as defunding Planned Parenthood.
Conservatives in the House Republican Conference chafed at the last-minute deal crafted in private. And even Ryan said the process of crafting the deal “stinks,” but he ruffled a few feathers himself when he announced Wednesday morning that he would support the deal.
“I don’t think Paul (Ryan) helped himself by supporting the bill — the debt ceiling and the budget deal,” said Rep. Jeff Duncan, a South Carolina Republican. “If I had my druthers, I would have had him come out against it. He said the process stinks, he’s against the process, he wants to change the process. That’s part of the reason we’re here. I agree with him on that. And he could have signaled the result of that process stinks as well.”