GOP leaders confident budget will pass

House Republicans are increasingly confident that they will approve a budget blueprint Wednesday with more robust spending on defense, after several days of working to bridge the gap between fiscal and security hawks.

To get their budget across the finish line, Republicans will vote on two separate versions of the fiscal plan crafted by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), an unusual maneuver that will allow the rank and file to take a more hands-on approach to legislating.

{mosads}GOP leaders believe the House will eventually back the amended version of the Price budget, which would increase a Pentagon war fund to $96 billion and require no offsets.

Defense hawks have been demanding for days that the House pass the budget with higher Pentagon spending, and Republican leaders have been focused on ensuring that their version clears the chamber.

“Have I been wrong before? Absolutely. But I think we’ll get it done,” said Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), one of the GOP vote counters, adding that he believed House Republicans were “coalescing around this approach.”

Under the procedure set up by House leaders, the budget that receives the most votes will be considered the adopted version. If multiple budgets tie for the most votes, the version that is voted on last will win. 

The amended Price budget is scheduled to get that last vote, meaning Republicans will know exactly how many votes it needs to be the winner — a further sign that it is preferred by GOP leaders.

The Price plan that passed the Budget Committee last week would boost the war account by $94 billion but require $20 billion in offsets. Both budgets from Price, who is in his first year leading the Budget Committee, would cut $5.5 trillion over a decade and balance in nine years.

Before those proposals get a vote, the House will also vote on an alternative from the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) that would cut $7.1 trillion over a decade, and plans from House Democrats, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The confidence from GOP leaders comes after a topsy-turvy week in which Republicans were almost unable to get their budget through Price’s committee, in large part because fiscal and defense hawks were divided over those $20 billion in offsets. 

“It’ll pass. It’ll pass,” Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told The Hill, when asked if the House would approve at least one of the GOP budgets.

Both McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) had trouble last week refereeing what became a tense showdown between fiscal conservatives and the defense hawks. But Republican lawmakers acknowledged that they had even more incentive to pass a budget now than they did the last four years with former Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

For starters, Republicans admit that failing to approve a budget would be an embarrassing setback for a party now in full control on Capitol Hill, especially considering how much they criticized Senate Democrats for not passing any. 

Plus, both the House and the Senate have to pass a budget to get to the reconciliation process, which will allow Republicans to take their most direct shot yet at ObamaCare. House and Senate Republicans are seeking to settle the differences in their budget by April 15.

Still, some Republicans — especially defense hawks — remained a bit uneasy ahead of Wednesday’s vote. 

GOP leaders had said last week that the Rules Committee would take care of the amendment increasing defense spending. But with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and leadership now embracing a more free-for-all strategy, the defense hawks have to band together to ensure their preferred version will pass.

“This is no way to run a railroad. It’s certainly no way to run Congress,” said Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), an Armed Services Committee member who spearheaded a letter of 70 Republicans insisting that the GOP budget contain more robust defense spending.

Turner added that he was telling defense hawks “the message is: vote ‘no’ on one, vote ‘yes’ on two.”

But conservatives, some of whom have frequently been a thorn in leadership’s side, said they appreciated the more freewheeling procedure, after saying for months that they frequently had too little input on how the House GOP handles legislation.

“If we can’t pull an open process off smoothly, we’ve got different challenges,” said Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.), a Budget Committee member.

Some GOP lawmakers said Tuesday that they were open to voting for all three GOP budget plans, which could complicate matters on the House floor. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), who authored the RSC budget and sits on the Budget panel, said the range of budgets increased the possibility of drama erupting on the floor.

“This really comes down to a decision we have to make on what we spend, including military spending,” said Stutzman, who said he would vote for both versions of the Price blueprint.

But other Republicans said that the Price budget backed by the Armed Services members looked like it was on the path to passage. Even Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who prefers the version with the offsets, said defense hawks would likely be able to outvote Republicans concerned more about adding to the deficit.

“I believe most members will be going into these votes in a fairly discriminating manner, knowing which ones they want to vote for,” said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.). “I think there will be some that might vote for all three, but I don’t think there will be as many as you might think.” 

Martin Matishak contributed.