The incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee said he expects a fight over paying for a new party-line spending bill as House Republicans move forward with a plan that does not offset $95 billion in proposed spending with cuts elsewhere.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is expected to soon inherit the Budget gavel from the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — and with it a key role in managing the budget reconciliation process Republicans intend to use to sidestep Democratic opposition to their latest legislative proposals.
Johnson noted in an interview Wednesday that he has long been one of the Senate’s foremost deficit hawks and that “I’ve got other members on the committee that also insist on offsets.”
“That’s the reality that I’ll have to deal with as chairman,” Johnson said. “You know, [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune’s going to have to deal with it. The White House has to deal with it. The House has to deal with it, as well.”
The House and Senate Budget committees play a key role in drafting and advancing fiscal blueprints that pave the way for party-line reconciliation bills, and Johnson could use his influence to force changes to the House proposal. He told reporters Monday, ahead of the House rollout, that identifying offsetting cuts “would certainly be one of my objectives.”
But that risks putting him at odds with Thune, who has voiced concerns that pursuing spending cuts to health care or other sensitive programs could blow back on vulnerable members just before the midterms.
The Senate Budget Committee, however, is stacked with fiscal hawks who will likely want to pay for at least part of the bill.
House GOP leaders are contending with their own band of fiscal hawks, who are upset over the lack of pay-fors included in the spending plan released Wednesday.
Johnson will come face-to-face with some of them Wednesday evening, saying that he would meet with House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) as well as the House Freedom Caucus.
Read the full article here