Budget

Conservatives: Ryan not tarnished by ‘bad’ deal

by Erik Wasson - 12/11/13 12:38 PM ET

House conservative Republicans said Wednesday that they have not lost faith in budget guru Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) despite the fact that he struck a budget deal they cannot support.

“I have a great deal of faith in Paul Ryan that will not be changed by this,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who is spearheading opposition to new budget bill. “It is not going to undermine Paul’s credibility or conservative bona fides.”

{mosads}Mulvaney said the problem is there are not enough conservatives elected to Congress to put true deficit reduction like that in Ryan’s plan into law. Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee.

“I don’t think this deal enhances or diminishes the stature of Paul Ryan,” said Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho).

He said that the Republican Party will suffer in the polls, however, because it has not delivering its promises to put the country on a path to a balanced budget.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) doesn’t like mineral royalty provisions in the bill, but said she is undecided in part because she believes in Ryan.

“The only reason that I am undecided is my complete regard for Paul Ryan,” she told reporters.

Ryan was the party’s vice presidential candidate in 2012 and is talked about for the top of the ticket in 2016.

Two other presidential prospects, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have come out against the deal.

Some conservatives say the $23 billion in deficit reduction is illusory and are objecting to using new aviation fees to pay for services not connected to flying. Rather than accept the deal, they want Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to put a stopgap measure in place for the rest of the fiscal year at the $967 billion sequester level rather than at the level $45 billion higher called for in the deal.

Tags Budget Paul Ryan