House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced on Tuesday that congressional leaders have reached a deal to raise the debt ceiling and pass a two-year budget. He defended his decision to negotiate the plan behind closed doors with Senate and Democratic leaders.
Leaders agreed to a plan that will raise the debt ceiling through March 2017. The budget plan boosts spending for military spending and some domestic programs, and makes some reforms to Social Security and Medicare.
On Tuesday, Boehner defended the plan as the better alternative to a simple debt ceiling increase, highlighting the boost in defense spending and entitlement reform. Numerous conservatives in the House have balked at the bipartisan budget deal and complained that the process that excluded members.
“It’s a solid agreement,” Boehner said. “There isn’t any reason why any member should vote against this.”
When asked if he worked on the deal to help clear Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) path to speaker, Boehner said, “I didn’t want him to walk into a dirty barn filled with you know what.”
Echoing Ryan’s comment on Tuesday morning, Boehner agreed that the process to reach the budget deal “stinks.”
“It’s certainly not the process I would want, but think about what the alternative was,” he said. “I would hope that the process in the future would have a little more length to it and involve more members.”
Boehner said he doesn’t believe Ryan will have any trouble leading the House Republican conference over future hurdles, noting that Ryan worked with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on a budget deal in 2013.
“He knows how to do this,” Boehner said. “I don’t think he’ll have any problems at all.”
