So by a larger-than-expected 332-94 margin, the House passed the Murray-Ryan budget deal last night, with only 32 Democrats and 62 Republicans dissenting. You kinda have to dig to find coverage of this development in the real world, since more attention is being focused on the alleged “civil war” between John Boehner and “outside” conservative groups.
Most of the Democratic opposition to the deal came, predictably, from the membership of the House Progressive Caucus. Among Republicans, the patterns were a bit trickier, though participation in a Republican Senate primary had a tendency to push GOPers into opposition (viz. all three Georgia House members running for the Senate, including Jack Kingston, one of just two Republican Appropriations Committee members to oppose a deal that put congressional appropriators back into business).
In the Senate, it will be interesting to see if any incumbents facing right-wing primary challenges have the guts to vote for the deal. The two “primaried” members of the Senate Leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn, have already indicated they would vote “no.” So has Lindsay Graham. Thad Cochran and Lamar Alexander haven’t taken a position yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of them go over the wall on a “free vote” after 60 senators have been corralled for the deal.
