Conservatives in the House Republican Conference, including Speaker John Boehner, are pressing to include a balanced-budget amendment in any debt deal. That position, which is is expected to hit a brick wall with President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders, came after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans this morning in the run-up to another budget session with Obama this afternoon.
“We have to have real controls in place to make sure this never happens again, real controls like a balanced-budget amendment,”
The Hill quoted Boehner as telling reporters after the meeting.
Boehner had been cool to the idea previously because it is subject to the approval of state legislatures and would take years to enact, The Hill noted. The House is scheduled to vote on a balanced-budget amendment next week.
Also weighing in after the meeting was Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers of Washington, who said, “I would say to the president right now, we need to put back on the table some of the items that he took off early on.
“He took off the balanced-budget amendment early on. He took off changes to Obamacare and repeal of Obamacare. We believe that those are part of the solution and we want to put them back on the table,” said McMorris-Rodgers, \vice chairwoman of the GOP conference
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