The Hill
Republican leaders tamp down rebellion against Ryan budget
By Erik Wasson

House Republican leaders appear to have warded off a conservative effort to protest their decision to hold a voice vote on Medicare legislation by opposing Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget.

Key critics of the leadership maneuver on the “doc fix” vote said Friday they planned on supporting the GOP budget authored by Ryan (R-Wis.).

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) was one of the members most angry about a voice vote last week on legislation to prevent a cut in physician payments under Medicare. The House passed the legislation by voice vote with only dozens of members on the floor.

Mulvaney called the maneuver, rarely used on controversial pieces of legislation, “bulls---,” and said he was undecided on the budget.

But he emerged from a floor conversation on Friday with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) singing a different tune.

“Earlier I was undecided but I am leaning 'yes,' ” Mulvaney told The Hill.

Mulvaney's office said the floor discussion with Boehner was unrelated to the Ryan budget vote.

Asked about using the budget vote to protest the voice vote, he said: “I’ve come to realize that this is not the measure ... it’s not a spending bill.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), an ally of Mulvaney’s, also emerged from a Boehner confab to say he is leaning "yes" on Ryan’s budget.

Budget votes are always difficult for the party in power, and Republicans can afford only 16 defections to move their legislation through the lower chamber, assuming every Democrat opposes it. Ten Republicans voted against last year’s budget.

As a result, hurt feelings and anger over the voice vote on the Medicare legislation could have been a real problem.

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) is furious about last week’s maneuver, and complained about it to reporters.

On Friday, he said Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has discussed the voice vote debacle with him personally, after Gohmert said he was “undecided” on the new Ryan plan.

“I received a call from the majority leader. I said I will sit there for every suspension bill if that is what it takes to prevent something like that and I have been assured that that will not be necessary,” he said.

“I don’t ever want to be fooled twice. ... It has definitely affected how I whip on the budget,” Gohmert told The Hill.

Gohmert said he has been working with Ryan on some unspecified problems he has with the substance of the budget, which would balance after 10 years by cutting $5.1 trillion without raising taxes and while increasing defense spending...

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