BUDGET/CONGRESS/GOP/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “House Republican leaders, stung by President Donald Trump’s rebuke of Congress’ recent trillion-dollar spending spree, are moving to give their rank and file cover by passing a balanced budget amendment this week. But many conservatives, including a good number of House Republicans, say the vote is insincere at best — and blatantly hypocritical at worst…Jordan and Meadows support the balanced budget amendment as a marker for fiscal austerity — it’s the timing of the vote, on the heels of the spending bonanza, that rankles them and other conservatives. The proposal requires supermajorities in both chambers to pass, as well as ratification by three-quarters of the states, an impossible hurdle. But with Republicans swimming in red ink — the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected regular trillion-dollar annual deficits starting in 2020, despite a growing economy — the party feels pressure to do something. The CBO’s deficit forecast hasn’t been that bleak since the Great Recession. And this time, Republicans can’t blame Barack Obama and the Democrats.”
–Rachel Bade and Sarah Ferris, “Conservatives irate over GOP’s spending hypocrisy,” Politico, April 10, 2018 7:28 pm