A Democratic senator predicted Tuesday that a deal to avert default and end the government shutdown will swiftly pass in the upper chamber, but expressed dismay that some House Republicans seemingly welcome the tumult that’s consumed Washington.
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) said during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” that a group of conservatives in the House are commanding too much influence on Republicans.
“A lot of what you see in the House, you see some Republicans, not all, I don’t want to say this about the entire Republican Party, some Republicans, quite honestly, they’re acting childish about a lot of this,” Pryor said. “They almost want to shut down. They want to see us break the debt ceiling, things like that, very irresponsible. I don’t think that’s where most of the Republicans are, but they’re allowing that smaller group to drive the train. And that’s one of the real problems we have in Washington.”
“So I think we’ll get an agreement today in the Senate,” he continued. “I’m not saying we can pass it today because there’s logistics about drafting and getting it to the floor and the procedural things we’ll have to do. But my guess is, this is just guess, but my guess is we’ll pass something in the Senate tomorrow. Get it over to the House as quickly as possible. Hopefully they’ll pass it shortly thereafter.”
Even as the Senate leaders hailed their progress on debt and budget negotiations, some House Republicans remain skeptical of any deal that does not strike at the Affordable Care Act.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) said Monday that any Republican who supports the deal from the “Senate surrender caucus” will likely face a primary challenger.
“It should have bipartisan support in the House,” Pryor said.
