Budget divide theatens GOP unity in House

WASHINGTON – Speaker Paul Ryan was supposed to be the one person who could unite a fractured House Republican conference, but if the current budget battle is any indication, unity may not be an achievable goal.

The Wisconsin Republican led a GOP conference meeting Friday in which he laid out three options for how members can choose to set fiscal 2017 funding levels in the upcoming budget resolution. But only one of those options — sticking to the funding levels approved in last year's budget deal — will give Congress a chance at passing appropriations bills through regular order, he said, according to a GOP source in the room.

Ryan's presentation received applause but did not seem to change any minds. Members leaving the meeting reiterated the same views they've held for weeks: Conservatives want a budget written to the lower sequester levels; defense hawks want to retain or even raise the agreed-upon level for defense, and other members support adhering to the levels reached in the budget deal.

"I heard some new ideas, but I didn't hear any new sentiment," said House Freedom Caucus member Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C.

If anything was clear from Friday's "family discussion," as Ryan has referred to the budget talks, it is that House leadership has changed, but the GOP membership has not. It's the same infighting over competing budget priorities that led former Speaker John Boehner to take control and offer his own solutions.

But Ryan is letting the members work out their differences themselves.

"I think the decisions are going to be made by the members of the GOP conference, not a couple people on the second floor of the Capitol," Freedom Caucus member Mark Meadows said, referring to the leadership office suites.

"That meeting never would have taken place under the previous leadership," Mulvaney said. "In the past, we were essentially told, 'Vote for this or you're a bad Republican.' There was an entirely different sense in that room today."

Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores, R-Texas, said Ryan has facilitated a more transparent discussion. "There's a lot more of a participating style and less of a 'Here, this deal's cooked. We want you to vote for it.' "

The speaker may not be predetermining the outcome, but he is making his views known. He told the conference that if they want a real shot at passing individual appropriations bills, they need to respect the budget agreement and write the 10-year budget blueprint to the higher fiscal 2017 numbers. Ryan said he couldn't promise all 12 bills would be signed into law, but said he feels Congress has an obligation to try, according to the source in the room.

The other two options — setting fiscal 2017 spending at sequestration levels or keeping the increased level of defense funding but returning to sequestration levels for nondefense — would guarantee that the Senate will block appropriations bills from moving forward, Ryan told the conference. That means Congress ultimately will end up passing a continuing resolution or an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government. Not passing a budget or appropriations bills is also a possibility, the speaker said, noting that would be a shame.

Not everyone was happy with the options Ryan presented. "I think it's a false choice," Freedom Caucus founding member Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said. "I think the Constitution says pretty clearly that we pass appropriations, [the Senate passes] appropriations and we can go to conference. That's the way it should happen. And we can pass our appropriations at a lower level."

Others defended the idea of sticking to the budget deal.

"If you want to go out to the floor and talk about a bunch of phony stuff that sounds nice and put it up on YouTube and go back to your district and say we're really the only ones fighting, then option one or two are your choice," Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said. "If you actually want to do real work, then option three is your choice."

A decision on the budget numbers is not expected until Congress returns from recess the week of Feb. 22. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., said his panel is still planning to mark up the budget resolution that week.