Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has planted herself in the middle of a civil war between Republican and Democratic appropriators over spending levels.
Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee are refusing to vote for any appropriations measures that break the 2011 discretionary spending caps pushed by McCaskill and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).
Democrats on the committee Thursday approved a higher spending level — $1.114 trillion — over the objections of GOP appropriators. While that’s $14 billion less than what President Obama has proposed, Republicans wanted the Sessions-McCaskill level, which is $20 billion less than the White House plan and would represent about a 1 percent increase in spending over 2010.
McCaskill has pushed Democrats to back her and Sessions’ full plan, which would lock in low levels of spending for the next three years. She told The Hill that it’s a chance to demonstrate fiscal discipline.
Full story: Sen. McCaskill in the middle of an Appropriations civil war on spending – TheHill.com