Coburn Objects To Paying Down Sequester With War Savings

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Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) objected Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) unanimous consent request to use war savings to pay down the sequester for five months.

Coburn lamented that Congress has chosen to inconvenience thousands of Americans “because we cannot cut any spending in Washington.”

Coburn’s opposition to Reid’s plan appeared to be backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), whose spokesman Don Stewart pushed back on the plan in a statement to TPM and sent a flurry of tweets attacking the use of war savings as a budget gimmick.

Reid sought consent to advance his plan after Republicans expressed outrage at airport delays caused by the sequester. After Coburn’s objection, the Senate returned to an online sales tax bill that has been pending.

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