GOP Votes Needed to Pass Budget in Senate

Senate Republicans, “who spent most of the last week bemoaning a recent rules change that makes it easier for Democrats to confirm Obama administration appointees, will have to turn their attention this week to the two-year budget deal crafted by the heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA),” CBS News reports.

“But in a deviation from the usual patterns in Washington, the bipartisan agreement may have a harder path in the Senate, where lawmakers are typically less averse to compromise than their House counterparts.”

However, The Hill reports that
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), the second-ranking Senate Democratic leader, said that “Republicans jockeying for the White House in 2016 and Tea Party challengers in 2014 have imperiled the budget deal.”

“Durbin estimated that Democrats will lose three members of their caucus on the vote, which means they’ll need at least eight Republicans to cross the aisle and vote with them.”

First Read: “While there might be a Democratic defection or two, 60 votes appears to
be much more obtainable today than it was late last week. There won’t be
much drama.”: