12 GOP Senators Join Democrats to Support Ryan-Murray Budget

12 GOP Senators Join Democrats to Support Ryan-Murray Budget

on Tue, 17 Dec 2013

A dozen Republican Senators joined a united Democrat caucus to invoke cloture on the Ryan-Murray budget deal on Tuesday. The cloture vote was 67-32. The vote, which cuts off a possible filibuster, puts the deal on a clear path to passage. Final passage on the deal requires a simple 51 vote majority.

The 12 Republicans supporting cloture are: Lamar Alexander (TN), Roy Blunt (MO), Saxby Chambliss (GA) Susan Collins (ME), Jeff Flake (AZ), Orrin Hatch (UT), John Hoeven (ND), Johnny Isakson (GA), Ron Johnson (WI), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Rob Portman (ON).

Not all of the Republicans are expected to support the Ryan-Murray budget on final passage, but the vote for cloture is the critical vote that assures final approval of the budget deal. 

The deal increases spending by $65 billion over the next two years, eliminating most of the sequester cuts. The deal offsets the increased spending by raising user fees and trimming other spending. One half of the spending cuts occur in 2022 and 2023 and are unlikely to materialize. 

The deal pushes a new budget debate into 2015. Congress will still have to debate lifting the debt ceiling in the Spring. The government's borrowing authority is set to expire early in 2014.