A House-Senate Budget Deal Isn’t Unthinkable, Price Says | Goppers

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., indicated Wednesday that a budget conference between the House and Senate is not out of the question, but that the House wants to set some ground rules before agreeing to make any formal moves.

In a wide-ranging discussion at the Christian Science Monitor’s recurring breakfast with policymakers, the five-term lawmaker, who sits on the powerful House Budget and Ways and Means committees, also provided his thoughts about the trajectory of an immigration overhaul and what the GOP might put on the table as part of a deal on raising the debt limit.

Here are the highlights from the hourlong discussion at a conference room in the St. Regis Hotel.

1. The Budget. Political watchers and frequent readers of our sister blog, #WGDB, are familiar by now with Democratic senators’ frequent unanimous consent requests to go to conference on the budgets both chambers passed earlier this year, but which Senate Republicans have blocked every time. The task of merging two very different budget frameworks is going to be a major challenge, and Price said on Wednesday that the delay can be traced to House Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., and others, who are hoping to lay down some conference “ground rules” before opening up the process for “demagoguery.”

via A House-Senate Budget Deal Isn’t Unthinkable, Price Says | Goppers.