"We have our differences"

Believing that the demands were unreasonable, an irritated Durbin engaged in what one source said was a “loud and passionate” argument with the combative conservative Republican, prompting the Illinois Democrat to ultimately tell Coburn that they had reached an “impasse.” Coburn said he slept on it and called Durbin the next morning to tell him, “You’re right.”…

In Durbin’s view, Coburn’s calls for cuts affecting current Medicare beneficiaries went beyond Ryan’s plan, something his party would never accept. In Coburn’s view, Durbin was not putting “everything on the table,” instead protecting expensive programs like Medicare and taking meager steps on domestic discretionary spending that he believed had to be addressed more aggressively…

“It’s much more prickly because Dick and I have confrontations on the floor all the time,” Coburn told POLITICO on Wednesday. He then quickly added: “That has nothing to do with it.”