WASHINGTON—House Republican leaders on Tuesday pushed toward a vote on a two-year budget deal despite conservative opposition, relying on the backing of Democrats for the far-reaching pact struck with President Barack Obama.
In his last days as speaker, John Boehner was intent on getting the measure through Congress quickly to head off a market-rattling debt crisis next week and a government shutdown in December. The deal also would take budget showdowns off the table until after the 2016 presidential and congressional elections, a potential boon to the eventual GOP nominee and incumbents facing tough re-election fights.
“The agreement isn’t perfect by any means,” but the alternative was a debt limit increase without any entitlement reform or money for troops, Boehner told reporters. “So this is a good deal.”
The Ohio Republican also said his goal was to “clean out the barn” for the next speaker. “I’ve done my best to clean it up,” he said.
The White House welcomed the agreement, with Vice President Joe Biden calling it “a good deal.”
“The last seven years, we’ve gone from crisis to recovery, and we’re on the verge of being able to have a genuine economic resurgence here,” Biden said. “No one got everything they wanted. But it will last for two years and it will prevent us from lurching from crisis to crisis.”
A coalition of Democrats, Republican defense hawks, and GOP pragmatists appeared poised to power the legislation into law over opposition from the tea party forces that eased Boehner out.
“We can’t stop it. He’s in league with the Democrats,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said of Boehner. “I mean I don’t think there’s anything you can do at this point.”
But Massie also said “it’s a long game” and conservatives were winning the war as they had forced Boehner to resign.
