The House's big day: Budget deal vote, GOP nominating Ryan

Washington (AP) — The House is poised to vote on a bipartisan pact charting a two-year budget truce and Republicans are set to nominate Rep. Paul Ryan as the chamber's new speaker, milestones GOP leaders hope will transform their party's recent chaos into calm in time for next year's presidential and congressional campaigns.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate were urging lawmakers to back the agreement, which would resolve fights over defense and domestic spending and federal borrowing until early 2017. Expectations were for House passage Wednesday and final Senate approval next week, even as hard-right conservatives and farm-state lawmakers arrayed against the deal.

"That's good news for everybody. It's a step forward," President Barack Obama said of the deal Tuesday in Chicago. "And I hope both parties come together to pass this agreement without delay."

Hours before the vote, Ryan released a statement saying he will vote for the bill because it makes "meaningful reforms" that strengthen safety net programs like Social Security and provides sufficient resources for the military. He also alluded to the dissension among Republican that led to the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, now in his last week in Congress.

"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," Ryan said. "What has been produced will go a long way toward relieving the uncertainty hanging over us. ...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."

Boehner, R-Ohio, was pivotal in crafting what amounts to a valedictory legislative prize for his supporters and a whack at his conservative House nemeses. The quarter-century House veteran serves his final day in Congress on Friday, driven into abrupt retirement by rebellious GOP hardliners who scorned his penchant for compromise with Obama and Democrats.

"I have a gift for you, too," Boehner told his House GOP colleagues at a closed-door meeting Tuesday, after they gave him a golf cart as a parting present. He called the agreement "the best possible deal at this moment for our troops, for taxpayers and for the American people."

Without legislation, the government could lapse into an economy-jolting default next week. A partial federal shutdown would occur without action by Dec. 11.

Unyielding conservatives like members of the House Freedom Caucus railed against the agreement, calling it a backroom deal that surrendered too much to Obama.

"No wonder so many Americans distrust Congress," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Freedom Caucus leader.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a presidential candidate, promised a filibuster, calling the package a capitulation that illustrates "why the grassroots Republicans are so angry with establishment Republicans." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., seemed ready to use procedures to limit the delay to a few days — underscoring the conservatives' helplessness when confronted with bipartisan cooperation.

The agreement would provide an extra $80 billion, divided evenly between the Pentagon and domestic agencies over the next two years, and extend the government's authority to borrow to pay bills into March 2017, as Obama's successor settles into the White House.

Approval would reduce the chance of partisan fights cascading into a federal shutdown or default, a relief to Republicans fearing such events would alienate voters.

A foremost beneficiary would be Ryan, R-Wis., the 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate, who seemed certain to be nominated as speaker when House Republicans vote Wednesday. Boehner had said he wanted to "clean the barn" of politically messy issues so Ryan, 45, could make a fresh start.

Ryan's spokesman has said Ryan played no role in the negotiations that led to the budget deal. Ryan himself has also said the secret, top-level process that party leaders and the White House used to reach the accord "stinks" and promised not to operate that way as speaker.

The full House is scheduled to formally elect Ryan as speaker Thursday.

One conservative leader, Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, predicted the budget compromise would get 70 to 90 GOP votes, which seemed sufficient for passage when combined with what is expected to be solid support from Democrats.

The extra spending provided for in the agreement would be financed by a potpourri of savings including sales of millions of gallons from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, curbs on Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and doctors and tougher federal debt collection, including allowing federal agents to call people's cell phones.

It would trim federal subsidies to companies that sell crop insurance to farmers, creating an uproar among agriculture-state lawmakers.

The package would also avert a looming shortfall in the Social Security disability trust fund that threatened to limit benefits, and head off an unprecedented increase in Medicare premiums for doctors' visits for about 15 million beneficiaries.

By Alan Fram, Associated Press. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – October 28, 2015 @ 8:30 a.m.