Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told TPM that if House Republicans amend the Senate bill to include spending cuts they’ll effectively kill the deal.
“If they do that’ll kill the package,” he said after a Democratic caucus meeting.
“I would not predict what these people will try to do because they are in thrall to extremists,” Frank said. “But if they amend this I don’t know how they think they — an amendment basically says, our ideology is too rigid and we’re not really trying to really [reach a deal].”
Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) office said his members have expressed “universal concern” with the agreement’s lack of spending cuts. Rumors on Capitol Hill are that the House GOP is considering amending the legislation and sending it back to the Senate.
House Democratic leaders demanded an up-or-down vote on the Senate deal on Tuesday afternoon.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) declined to discuss whether a GOP amendment to include spending cuts would threaten the bill.
“Look, the country deserves an up or down vote on the compromise bipartisan bill that passed the Senate,” he told TPM. “What we’re calling for is an up or down vote. Let democracy work its will. … Let’s just take this step by step.”
