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Tuesday, January 01, 2013 6:36:47 PM
House Conservatives Theaten To Kill Fiscal Cliff Deal
A member jokes that Senate Republicans “must have been drunk” when they voted for the compromise.
John Stanton Jan 1, 2013 4:21pm EST
WASHINGTON — Less than 12 hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden marshaled a strong 89 votes for their fiscal cliff plan, the agreement appeared on the brink of unraveling at the hands of a House Republican revolt that includes Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
During a closed-door meeting of the GOP conference Tuesday afternoon, Cantor told his colleagues that he would not support the deal — despite the fact that he and Speaker John Boehner the night before had vowed to “consider” the bill.
Although his remarks were brief, they sent shock waves through his conference, which was already extremely skeptical of the agreement, and perhaps looking for a leader.
Conservative opposition to the agreement stems from a host of issues, including the fact that the deal does not include any spending cuts, would significantly add to the nation’s deficit and raises taxes on those making more than $400,000 a year.
And Cantor’s not alone in opposing the deal: the agreement is universally disliked within Republican circles, and even Democrats in the House and Senate have voiced complaints about the deal.
The lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill was a universal concern amongst members in today’s meeting," said Boehner spokesperson Brendan Buck. "Conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward.”
Rep. Steve LaTourette, a Boehner ally, said there were “two schools of thought” expressed in the meeting: To accept the deal and “live to fight another day,” or amend the measure and send it back to the Senate.
The latter option clearly enjoyed support from the majority of the conference.
“I think it’s moving in that direction," LaTourette said.
Still, Cantor’s decision to come out against the agreement was unexpected.
According to one Republican in the room Cantor “went rogue on the messaging” and clearly caught his colleagues in leadership by surprise with his decision to come out against the bill.
Technically, the agreement was not yet dead: Speaker John Boehner could, in theory, still find the votes to pass the bill. But Boehner’s control of his conference is practically non-existent at this point and there is virtually no chance he can marshal the 120 Republicans he insists he needs before passing the bill.
Given those dynamics, it now seems increasingly likely that Boehner will opt to bring the bill to the floor and allow his members to amend it in some way before sending it back to the Senate for another vote. If they fail to reach agreement, a new Congress sworn in on Thursday would have to start from scratch.
And a move to amend the bill in the House will mean the effective end of the Biden-McConnell deal, since neither Senate Democrats or Republicans are in any mood to take another vote on a bill, and any changes House Republicans make are likely to be poison pills for Democrats.
When asked what a next step would be for the Senate were the deal to be amended by
the House, a Senate Democratic leadership aide responded: "Nothing. We’re done.”
Shortly after House Republicans concluded their meeting, the conference prepared to blamed Senate Democrats for the death of a deal.
"The House will work its will, and if it sends the Senate an amended bill and Democratic leaders choose to go over the cliff, then they will have to answer to the American people," a House Republican leadership aide said.
Republican Rep. Todd Akin was comparably dismissive.
"Oh, the Senate always rattles its saber," he said. Even Republican support in the Senate did not appear to have any bearing on House GOP opinion: LaTourette joked that the Republican senators "must have been drunk" when they voted for the compromise.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/house-conservatives-theaten-to-kill-fiscal-cliff-d
A member jokes that Senate Republicans “must have been drunk” when they voted for the compromise.
John Stanton Jan 1, 2013 4:21pm EST
WASHINGTON — Less than 12 hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden marshaled a strong 89 votes for their fiscal cliff plan, the agreement appeared on the brink of unraveling at the hands of a House Republican revolt that includes Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
During a closed-door meeting of the GOP conference Tuesday afternoon, Cantor told his colleagues that he would not support the deal — despite the fact that he and Speaker John Boehner the night before had vowed to “consider” the bill.
Although his remarks were brief, they sent shock waves through his conference, which was already extremely skeptical of the agreement, and perhaps looking for a leader.
Conservative opposition to the agreement stems from a host of issues, including the fact that the deal does not include any spending cuts, would significantly add to the nation’s deficit and raises taxes on those making more than $400,000 a year.
And Cantor’s not alone in opposing the deal: the agreement is universally disliked within Republican circles, and even Democrats in the House and Senate have voiced complaints about the deal.
The lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill was a universal concern amongst members in today’s meeting," said Boehner spokesperson Brendan Buck. "Conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward.”
Rep. Steve LaTourette, a Boehner ally, said there were “two schools of thought” expressed in the meeting: To accept the deal and “live to fight another day,” or amend the measure and send it back to the Senate.
The latter option clearly enjoyed support from the majority of the conference.
“I think it’s moving in that direction," LaTourette said.
Still, Cantor’s decision to come out against the agreement was unexpected.
According to one Republican in the room Cantor “went rogue on the messaging” and clearly caught his colleagues in leadership by surprise with his decision to come out against the bill.
Technically, the agreement was not yet dead: Speaker John Boehner could, in theory, still find the votes to pass the bill. But Boehner’s control of his conference is practically non-existent at this point and there is virtually no chance he can marshal the 120 Republicans he insists he needs before passing the bill.
Given those dynamics, it now seems increasingly likely that Boehner will opt to bring the bill to the floor and allow his members to amend it in some way before sending it back to the Senate for another vote. If they fail to reach agreement, a new Congress sworn in on Thursday would have to start from scratch.
And a move to amend the bill in the House will mean the effective end of the Biden-McConnell deal, since neither Senate Democrats or Republicans are in any mood to take another vote on a bill, and any changes House Republicans make are likely to be poison pills for Democrats.
When asked what a next step would be for the Senate were the deal to be amended by
the House, a Senate Democratic leadership aide responded: "Nothing. We’re done.”
Shortly after House Republicans concluded their meeting, the conference prepared to blamed Senate Democrats for the death of a deal.
"The House will work its will, and if it sends the Senate an amended bill and Democratic leaders choose to go over the cliff, then they will have to answer to the American people," a House Republican leadership aide said.
Republican Rep. Todd Akin was comparably dismissive.
"Oh, the Senate always rattles its saber," he said. Even Republican support in the Senate did not appear to have any bearing on House GOP opinion: LaTourette joked that the Republican senators "must have been drunk" when they voted for the compromise.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/house-conservatives-theaten-to-kill-fiscal-cliff-d
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