SPLITS

Key Senator Ditches Budget Talks

GOP's Coburn "taking a break."

Hail hail, the gang’s… not all here. Sen. Tom Coburn, a key Republican voice on the budget, has announced he’s “taking a break” from the Gang of Six, the bipartisan group working on a deal that would cut the federal deficit. "He is disappointed the group has not been able to bridge the gap between what needs to happen and what senators will support,” the Oklahoman’s spokesman said. The group’s three Democrats and two remaining Republicans said they intend to keep working, with the GOP’s Saxby Chambliss and Mike Crapo expressing tempered optimism. The group had been working on reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years. A separate bipartisan group, convened by Vice President Joe Biden, is working on the same goal.