Republicans face a test of their aspiration to be a governing party as the House and Senate budgets head to their chamber floors next week for what could be dicey votes.
Congressional GOP leaders, who faulted Democrats for failing to pass budgets when they were in the majority, have placed a particular emphasis on the need to approve budgets to demonstrate that they are capable of governing and of occupying the White House.
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“Passing a budget is essential and will happen,” Mitch McConnell told Roll Call as he prepared to take over the Senate majority in December.
“What we want to be is a responsible right-of-center governing majority,” he said.
But he and House Speaker John Boehner already face a major challenge beginning next week, as the rift between Republican defense hawks and deficit cutters over Pentagon funding threatens the budgets.
“Republicans criticized Democrats for failing to pass budget resolutions, and the budget resolution is going to be a test of whether the Republican majority can govern, and that test will be a strong one,” said Ed Lorenzen, a senior adviser at the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Proving that they can govern will be a major selling selling point for leadership in convincing fiscal conservatives and defense hawks to unite behind a budget, said Lorenzen, who previously worked for Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., when he was House majority leader. “A large part of our pitch was, ‘We need to pass a budget to show we can govern,'” Lorenzen said.
Just as importantly, passing a budget allows Republicans to pass legislation with a simple majority in the Senate through the reconciliation process. Reconciliation is a part of the budget process that allows for expedited consideration of tax and spending bills, meaning that the 54 Republicans in the Senate could pass reconciliation legislation without the help of any Democrats.
Republicans may use the tool for putting a repeal of Obamacare on President Obama’s desk, as they have said they want to do. They also might be forced to use it to address the outcome of the looming Supreme Court decision on Obamacare subsidies for state-run exchanges, Lorenzen noted.
But Republicans won’t have that chance unless they can rally around the party’s budgets in the Senate and the House and then reconcile the differences between the two chambers.
Republicans projected confidence following approval of budgets at the committee level Thursday.
“The committee’s approval of this balanced budget represents a significant first step in changing how we do business,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi after his panel approved the budget early Thursday evening.
But the divide over defense spending raised worries that the conference could run into trouble next week. In recent episodes, including a showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security earlier in March, the party has seen major legislation fail on the House floor.
On Thursday, Democrats took their turn as the minority party in making the most of Republicans’ apparent difficulties.
“Republicans are right now themselves in total disarray,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
“Republicans are totally divided on their budgets,” said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, vice chairman of the Democratic conference.
“They can’t agree on what gimmicks and how much sleight of hand to use,” he told reporters in the Capitol Thursday afternoon as the Senate Budget Committee worked toward approving the budget.
