WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner’s angry eruption last week at conservative groups attacking the budget deal was just his hot Irish temper, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan insisted Sunday.
“I think John just got his Irish up there,” Ryan (R-Wis.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” as he downplayed the rift between conservatives and the GOP establishment over the deal.
Ryan, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, said that he was “frustrated too” with the conservative backlash.
“I think these groups are valuable. The way I look at it is this: They’re part of our conservative family. I’d prefer to keep these conversations within our family,” he said.
Boehner last week unloaded on conservative groups, including Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and Club for Growth, for pressuring Republicans to oppose the deal that is supposed to prevent another government shutdown fight for two years.
“They’re using our members, and they’re using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous!” fumed Boehner at a press conference Wednesday.
The budget deal ultimately passed the House in a landslide vote. It is expected to pass the Senate this week, despite significant opposition from Senate Republicans.
Conservatives blasted the compromise struck by Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) because it trades more spending now for promised savings over the next decade.
The deal faces opposition in the Senate from Tea Party Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) and other GOP establishment figures.
But Senate Democrats need just five Republicans to help pass the bill and likely will get that support.
The deal lifts the current annual spending cap of $967 billion, setting spending at $1.012 trillion for 2014 and $1.014 trillion for fiscal year 2015.
It eases the unpopular automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, replacing some of it with other spending reductions and some new fees.
Democrats didn’t get the tax hikes or extension of long-term unemployment benefits that they wanted. Republicans didn’t get reforms of the tax code or entitlements such as Medicare that they wanted.
“Getting a budget agreement that reduces the deficit without raising taxes and prevents two government shutdowns from occurring in 2014, in my opinion, is the right thing to do and it’s a good thing to do,” said Ryan.
He also pledged that Republicans would use a fight in the spring over raising the debt limit to get concessions from President Obama and his Democrats.
“We as a caucus — along with our Senate counterparts — are going to meet and discuss what it is we’re going to want out of the debt limit,” Ryan said in a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
“We don’t want nothing out of this debt limit. We’re going to decide what it is we’re going to accomplish out of this debt limit fight,” he said.