House standing ground on 'reconciliation' in budget talks
As top Republicans continue negotiating a final spending blueprint, House GOP leaders aren't backing away from their plans to use a fast-track budget procedure to do more than just move an Obamacare repeal.
The expedited procedure, called reconciliation, allows the Senate to pass legislation by simple majority instead of the typical 60-vote threshold, provided the two chambers can agree on a budget resolution.
House Republicans want to use reconciliation to speed several priorities, from an Obamacare repeal to a possible tax overhaul to entitlement changes. The Senate prefers to use reconciliation just to take on Obamacare.
"I would like to have an option to do more than just [the Affordable Care Act]," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters during a Monday briefing . "You never know what the future holds. Knowing how the Senate works today, where they try to stop everything, I think it brings the American public greater freedom if we allow more options."
The Senate's budget gives reconciliation instructions only to two committees that oversee Obamacare. The chamber's top tax writer, Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), opposes passing tax reform on partisan lines via reconciliation.
And Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2016 are likely wary of voting on controversial entitlement reforms that would likely be used against them on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, the House is expected to appoint budget conferees on Tuesday as GOP leaders look toward finalizing a budget deal by the end of the month. Despite their differences over reconciliation, McCarthy struck an optimistic tone, saying he doesn't see major differences between the House and Senate fiscal blueprints.
"I don't think there's as big a divide as you think there is," McCarthy said. "I actually think we're much closer than people realize."
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