House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday morning he believes he has enough votes in the House to pass the bipartisan spending deal reached in the Senate that would significantly raise domestic and defense spending and avert a government shutdown.
“I think we will. I feel good,” Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said in an interview Thursday on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, ahead of the vote on the bill in the Senate and the House.
The Senate is expected to pass the deal later Thursday, sending it back to the House. As of Thursday morning, it’s not clear if there are enough Republican votes to pass it in the House, meaning some Democrats would have to vote for it to reach a simple majority, a fact Ryan alluded to.
“Part of it depends on the Democrats. This is a bipartisan bill. It’s going to need bipartisan support,” Ryan said. “We are going to deliver our share of support. I feel very good about Republicans.”
The massive two-year budget deal proposed by Senate leaders Wednesday would boost military and non-defense spending by $300 billion over the next two years as well as add more than $80 billion in disaster relief.
“Our members who are focused on the military are very happy where we landed with that,” Ryan said.
Funding for the federal government is set to run out Thursday night at midnight, though congressional leaders in both parties have said they don’t expect a shutdown.
