With Democrats leading the way, the House passed a budget agreement Wednesday to boost spending in 2016 and 2017 and grant a debt holiday allowing for unlimited federal borrowing into the next president’s term — but not before conservatives mounted one last vote of defiance against outgoing Speaker John A. Boehner.
Democrats were far more thrilled with the deal than Republicans, and provided the majority of votes for the deal, thrilled that it increased domestic spending after years of cuts and that it raised the debt limit without any conditions.
But GOP leaders said they managed to win the first changes to Social Security in three decades, including new checks designed to kick able-bodied Americans off the disability insurance program, and said the spending increases include a major boost for the Pentagon, which has said it’s been scraping by with the money it’s gotten.
“I think this legislation will protect our economy, reduce the deficit, clearly strengthen our national security and make long-term reforms to our nation’s entitlement programs,” Mr. Boehner told reporters.
The House vote was 266-167, with 79 Republicans joining a unified Democratic Party. That left 167 Republicans who voted against it in a final rebuke to Mr. Boehner a day before he’s expected to yield his speaker’s gavel.
The measure now moves to the Senate, where GOP leaders were trying to round up votes and facing reluctance from their presidential candidates, who say the bill doesn’t go far enough.
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Congress needs to act by Nov. 3 to raise the debt limit.
The bill grants a debt holiday lasting until March 15, 2017, which means President Obama and his successor can borrow as much as they need to keep the government operating without having to worry about breaching the level set in law.
The legislation also spreads out an increase in Medicare Part B premium payments over the next decade, preventing millions of seniors from seeing a major hike next year.
And the bill boosts defense spending by $30 billion in 2016 and another $15 billion in 2017. Domestic spending gets the same boosts. But those are overall spending levels, and Congress must still write the individual appropriations bills to spend the money.
Democrats said they would have wanted to hike spending even more, but said it was still an improvement over what the GOP wanted, which was an increase in defense spending without any hikes in domestic spending and no offsetting cuts.
This deal does cut money over the next decade to account for the new spending in 2016 and 2017 — though most of the cuts and savings are backloaded.
“It was a victory for bipartisanship, it was a victory for working families in our country,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said after the vote, touting her party’s unity for keeping the government operating and debt service going.
Rep. Paul Ryan, the man expected to succeed Mr. Boehner, tried to rally GOP support Wednesday, saying that while he wasn’t happy with the closed-door negotiations that produced the bill or many of the details, it was the only option.
“What I’ve heard from members over the last two weeks is a desire to wipe the slate clean, put in place a process that builds trust and start focusing on big ideas,” he said. “What has been produced will go a long way toward relieving the uncertainty hanging over us, and that’s why I intend to support it. It’s time for us to turn the page on the last few years and get to work on a bold agenda that we can take to the American people.”
The overwhelming GOP opposition doesn’t bode well for Mr. Ryan as he prepares to take the reins — though Republican rank-and-file lawmakers said they didn’t blame the Wisconsin Republican for the deal.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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