Dems Try to Force Conservative Budget

House Democrats trying to bring out divisions within the GOP almost tricked Republicans into passing a more conservative budget than the one proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. As Democrats voted “present” instead of “no,” as Republicans expected them to, a conservative budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee almost got enough votes to pass before Republicans frantically switched their votes from “yes” to “no.” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) was heard screaming at his colleagues to vote “present,” while Ryan was heard telling the presiding officer to close down the vote. In the end, some Republicans switched their votes to “no” and blocked the bill 119-136. A statement form Hoyer's office said the maneuver was meant to “show which budget Republicans support—the Republican budget that ends Medicare as we know it and cuts investments while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest, or the extreme RSC budget that is the GOP budget on steroids: ending Medicare as we know it and going even further in decimating investments in our future.”