Senior White House officials are heavily working Capitol Hill to shore up Republican support for the two-year comprehensive budget deal as wary conservatives have expressed disappointment that the agreement would add at least another $324 billion to the national debt, Roll Call reported.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Senate Republicans Tuesday afternoon to reassure them at their weekly policy lunch that President Donald Trump supports the deal and would sign it into law if passed, according to the report.
Mnuchin’s reassurances came as White House officials and top lawmakers seek to win over wavering bipartisan lawmakers in hopes of securing support before congressional votes that could start as early as Thursday, Politico reported.
“I just explained why this is a fairly negotiated deal with bipartisan support,” Mnuchin told reporters after his Capitol Hill appearance.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also endorsed the deal, describing it as a bipartisan solution to looming budget and debt limit problems, according to the report.
“I make no apologies for this two-year caps deal,” McConnell said. “I think it’s the best we could have done in a time of divided government. The alternatives were much worse.”
The Pentagon stands as the major winner from the proposed deal with defense spending continuing to grow from roughly $611 billion a year in 2016 to $738 billion in 2020, according to The Hill.
The increased spending is going toward better ships and aircraft, higher pay for military personnel, more troops and more research into new defense technologies, The Hill said.
DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Amber Smith