Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), the likely next Speaker of the House, said the budget process "stinks" Tuesday after news of a tentative budget deal reached between the White House and Congress.
"I'm reserving judgment on this agreement because, quite frankly, I haven't seen it yet," Ryan said to reporters. "I want to see what it looks like on paper, but about the process, I can say this. I think this process stinks. This is not the way to do the people's business, and under new management, we are not going to do the people's business this way.
"We are up against a deadline. That's unfortunate, but going forward, we can't do the people's business [like this]. As a conference, we should have been meeting months ago to have a unified strategy moving forward."
The two-year deal extends the debt limit until 2017 and provides $80 billion in sequester relief. It also includes fixes to Medicare and "the first major reform to Social Security since 1983," NBC News reports:
The 144-page bipartisan funding bill, labeled a "discussion draft," was posted online just before midnight setting up a potential vote in the House as early as Wednesday.
If approved, the agreement would be a milestone after years of gridlock and annual threats of government shutdowns.
Republicans will meet again in a closed door meeting Tuesday morning to continue discussions.
"I think it'd be helpful for the whole conference," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said about passing a deal addressing both the debt limit and budget before a new speaker is elected Thursday.
Government funding is set to expire on December 11th, while the debt limit deadline is November 3rd, according to the Treasury Department.
The bill would set spending levels through September of 2017 in an effort to return to the regular government funding process, a deal aides say would raise the spending caps set in place in 2011 that would result in deep cuts to both defense and non-defense spending, called sequestration.
This deal would provide $80 billion in sequester relief — $50 billion the first year and $30 billion in the second equally divided between defense and non-defense spending.
Outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner (R., Ohio) told NBC News on Monday that he was "cleaning out the barn" by pushing for the deal:
The deal is likely going to need Democratic votes to pass the House, but some moderate Republicans, defense hawks and appropriators will likely find many parts of the deal to their liking. The bipartisan agreement would include long-term entitlement reforms to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program — the first major reform to Social Security since 1983.
It also prevents a spike in Medicare B premiums for millions of seniors, a source familiar with the negotiations said. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, has been advocating for a change to this program.