Republican lawmakers reportedly laughed at House Speaker Paul Ryan after he told them he had been given a promise from Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
Lawmakers were amused at Ryan’s naiveté for thinking that Reid is someone their party can trust. “I know, I know,” Ryan replied with a smile, according to The Hill.
Reid and Ryan just finished working together to help pass a $1 trillion dollar spending bill, which many argue contained far more liberal policies than conservative ones. Reid has promised Ryan that he will return to regular order in the New Year. According to the Hill, Republicans on Capitol Hill aren’t buying it.
They feel they’ve been burned one too many times by Reid, who repeatedly filibustered House-passed appropriations bills this year and has a reputation for launching broadsides against the GOP from the Senate floor. And they’re not so sure the Nevada Democrat will allow bills to move through the Senate Appropriations Committee to the floor, where after they are approved they could be merged with House-passed legislation.
“I personally don’t trust Harry Reid as far as I could throw him,” quipped Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), chairman of the Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
“I’m extraordinarily skeptical,” added Ryan’s Wisconsin colleague, GOP Rep. Reid Ribble.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic, but Harry’s a tough character to deal with and he’ll find some way to stop virtually anything that he doesn’t completely support, which is most of what we care about,” said House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). Still, he added, “I wouldn’t discourage Paul from trying.”
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