But well-laid plans for the year ahead are hanging by a thread. For weeks, Ryan has been locked in a standoff with hard-liners who want to back out of the bipartisan spending agreement Boehner struck last year. That deal includes $30 billion in new spending and was supposed to set up a drama-free budget process ahead of the election in November.
Ryan has urged his colleagues to honor the agreement, arguing it will show the GOP-controlled Congress can effectively govern while giving rank-and-file lawmakers the influence they desire over individual spending bills.
But that argument is falling flat with members who are mindful of the anti-establishment fervor stoked by Trump’s success and are balking at boosting spending.
Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), one of the five congressional Republicans to have endorsed Trump, said conservatives are simply listening to voters. “Overwhelmingly in my district, people are tired of insiders,” he said.
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