On a conference call with Speaker Boehner on Saturday, GOP conservatives refused to back the Senate bill. “Members expressed their opinions that we had a good piece of legislation and what the Senate sent back wasn’t,” says Rep. Jim Jordan (R) of Ohio, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, the conservative wing of the House GOP caucus. “That message came through loud and clear.”
Meanwhile, several Senate Republicans are openly criticizing the House move. Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana told MSNBC in an interview Monday that passing the Senate bill is “best for the country, as well as for all the individuals who are affected.” GOP Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Dean Heller of Nevada, all up for reelection in 2012, have also called on the House Republicans to back the Senate compromise.
Democrats and the White House on Monday called foul. Democrats say they had assumed that a deal with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell signaled that House Republicans would go along.
