House GOP on Budget 'Hot Seat'
POLITICO: Hill Republicans on the hot seat[3/14]
In the House, GOP leaders are struggling to break a months-long impasse over passing a new budget, a top priority this year for new Speaker Paul Ryan. There's been no significant progress in forging a spending plan that passes conservative muster, even as senior Republicans spent a week-long recess fielding proposals and ideas from lawmakers.
…The House returns from a week-long recess looking to craft a budget deal that can win approval from its ideologically diverse conference. Though no firm date has been set, the House Budget Committee is expected to hold a mark-up this week on a $1.07 trillion plan that includes savings in entitlement programs and future budget cuts. That proposal from Budget Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) was quickly panned by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus when it was introduced in early March.
Washington Post: House GOP makes one more big push to get a budget[3/14]
House Republicans are running out of time to adopt a budget…
…Earlier this month, House leaders tried to appease wavering members' concerns by offering a vote on legislation to trim $30 billion from mandatory spending programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.But Conservatives balked and leaders returned to the drawing board.
Roll Call: How Congress Could Fail Its Annual Budget Test[3/13]
They completed just one time the biggest, and supposedly easiest, test of governing competence they'd set for themselves. Now the Republicans in charge of the Capitol are on the cusp of not even attempting a repeat performance.
Their tacit decision to walk away from the normal budget process, even before it has started, became clear this week. It's the strongest evidence yet of the fundamental challenge facing the GOP as it campaigns for continued control of Congress: The party's internal ideological frictions remain stronger than its yearning to calm an angry electorate by restoring functionality to the legislative gears…
…In writing this year's non-binding budget resolution, which is supposed to be the first step in the by-the-book annual routine, the only real decision for the Republicans is whether to stick with the game plan agreed upon only five months ago. But even that is quickly proving too much for the fractured majority party to accomplish…
And when House members return next week, at least 30 of the most combative Republican conservatives are likely to still be insisting on re-opening last fall's budget agreement…As long as such resistance remains, the GOP high command won't put any document before the House knowing it doesn't have sufficient votes for adoption. A Budget Committee markup next week is as far as the process would get.
It's a remarkable turnabout from last year. Then, Republicans had newly taken total control of Congress promising to restore the normal rhythms of the legislative branch. The first plausibly easy way of doing so was the budget resolution…
The process may be convoluted, but the political take-away is not: The Republicans are not in good position to hold it together this election year on exercising the power of the purse. It's the fundamental assignment for the legislative branch, and a return to failure as the default setting isn't going to make the angry electorate happier.
After repeatedly promising a return to order in the House, Speaker Ryan's budget debacle is a clear signal to the American people that he has no plan to end the chaos that continues to dominate the House GOP. When put on the "hot seat," the GOP escape strategy looks remarkably familiar: breaking promises and bending over backwards to appease the most radical voices of the House Republican Conference.