Politics

Jim Jordan releases conservative budget with even more cuts than Paul Ryan’s

Jonathan Strong Jonathan Strong, 27, is a reporter for the Daily Caller covering Congress. Previously, he was a reporter for Inside EPA where he wrote about environmental regulation in great detail, and before that a staffer for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA). Strong graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a degree in political science in 2006. He is a huge fan of and season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals hockey team. Strong and his wife reside in Arlington.
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Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, head of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), released his own budget Thursday with even more dramatic spending cuts than the Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget marked-up Wednesday in the House Budget Committee.

The RSC budget would balance the federal budget by 2020, in part by beginning cuts to Medicare and Medicaid earlier than Ryan’s budget would.

But the plan faces obstacles in the House let alone the inevitably harsh treatment it will receive in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Four top conservative lawmakers said on a conference call with reporters Thursday the budget was a “complementary effort” to Ryan’s budget and not meant to undermine it.

Indeed, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina Republican, called Ryan’s budget a “tremendous document” and said it incorporates provisions conservatives “have been waiting our entire life to talk about.”

But the move to release an even more strident budget comes as the right flank of the party has already pushed GOP leadership in a conservative direction in several key episodes this Congress.

One key way the RSC budget would more aggressively tackle entitlement spending is by “slowly” raising the eligibility age for Medicare and Social Security, at first by two months.

Mulvaney recounted town halls in which he asks individuals approaching eligibility, “can you work two months for us?” and said the reaction has been favorable.