House to vote on Ryan budget proposal

WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- The budget proposal presented by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which cuts $5.3 trillion in spending, has gained traction among Republicans in recent days.

The House was poised to approve Ryan's budget measure, despite the desire of the party's conservative deficit hawks for deeper cuts and mutterings among GOP appropriators about spending caps included in the resolution, The Hill reported.

Passage would allow Republicans to rally around a key issue -- reducing the deficit -- after being in disarray on how to handle the debt ceiling and the payroll tax bill late last year and how to proceed on an as-yet unresolved long-term highway bill.

Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee have said most in that group would support the Budget Committee chairman's bill, despite offering their own alternative that included $2.2 trillion more in spending cuts. However, with all the House Democrats expected to vote no, Republicans can afford only about two dozen defections.