WASHINGTON (AP) — The co-chairs of a budget "supercommittee" responsible for coming up with more than $1.5 trillion or more in deficit cuts have chosen a Republican tax expert as their top staff aide.
Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling have selected Mark Prater, a tax lawyer with the Senate Finance Committee, as the supercommittee's staff director.
The Washington Democrat and the Texas Republican say Prater's two decades of experience as a top GOP aide on the panel bring the know-how and experience required to help the panel succeed.
The supercommittee was established under legislation enacted last month to increase the government's ability to borrow. It is charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts as a condition for President Barack Obama to be allowed to order further debt limit increases.
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