Politics

Source: McConnell will vote against budget deal brokered by Paul Ryan

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Add the Senate’s top Republican to the list of those who will oppose the new budget deal, which conservatives are blasting for blowing through the mandated spending caps on government spending next year.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will vote against the deal brokered by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, a knowledgeable source close to the Kentucky Republican told The Daily Caller on Wednesday.

While the budget proposal is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, McConnell joins a growing list of Republican senators — including Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rand Paul of Kentucky — who oppose the deal.

Ryan and Murray announced the budget deal on Tuesday evening. While the across-the-board spending cuts to government agencies in the Budget Control Act capped 2014 spending levels at $967 billion, the Ryan-Murray deal raises that spending level to $1.012 trillion with the promise of new cuts to government spending over time.

McConnell’s opposition to a deal that the House GOP leadership — including Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor — have fully embraced isn’t much of a surprise. He has long spoken in support of keeping what’s known as the sequester cuts intact.

“I wish the budget conference well, but I do hope that at the end of the day we’ll support the Budget Control Act. It’s the law of the land,” McConnell said in November.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that McConnell met with House Republicans last month, urging them not to get rid of the automatic budget cuts.

“His whole issue is to hold it,” Rep. Mike Coffman said of that meeting.

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