NRCC Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) has been taking fire from Democrats and many conservatives for cynically condemning President Obama’s budget as a “shocking attack on seniors,” after Obama yielded to GOP demands and included a Social Security cut in his budget.
His ploy put him at odds with many GOP leaders, who narrowly praised Obama’s decision to include so-called “Chained CPI” in his budget. But it also indirectly implicates nearly half of the House GOP conference, and his own deputies at the NRCC.
Late last month, 104 Republicans, including four NRCC vice chairmen — Reps. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Tom Graves (R-GA), Patrick McHenry (R-PA), and Tom Price (R-GA) — voted to replace the House GOP budget with the more conservative Republican Study Committee budget. That budget, according to an official description, “changes the formula for Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA) by adopting a more accurate measure of inflation (chained-CPI).
At his weekly Capitol briefing Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner said he “disagree[s] with what Chairman Walden said,” and that the two had discussed Walden’s comments. The Club for Growth branded Walden a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and added him to their list of members its seeking to primary.
But for now Walden’s still standing by his remarks. In response to an inquiry about the RSC budget vote, NRCC communications director Andrea Bozek emailed the following statement. “Chairman Walden supports the budget passed by House Republicans that preserves and protects Medicare and Social Security while also balancing the budget in 10 years. He disagrees with President Obama’s political plan that hurts current seniors just so he can pay for more wasteful spending.”
