Earlier on Wednesday, the House held a series of votes on various budget proposals, but a final vote on the Ryan budget won’t occur until Thursday.
A quick recap:
‐ The Republican Study Committee budget, which would achieve balance in four years and proposed more aggressive entitlement reforms than the Ryan plan, was defeated, with 104 ayes and 132 nays. The reason for the odd vote count: 171 Democrats voted “present.” It was a canny attempt by Democrats to force the GOP to adopt the conservative proposal, which ultimately forced more Republicans to vote no than might have otherwise.
‐ The Senate Democratic proposal, which was offered by Republicans, failed 154 to 261, with a significant number of Democrats — 35, or about one-sixth of the caucus — voting no, despite party leadership’s efforts to encourage support.
‐ The official House Democratic budget, authored by Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), fell 165 to 253, with 28 Democrats voting against.
‐ The budget offered by the Congressional Black Caucus was rejected 105 to 305, with 80 Democrats voting against.
‐ The Progressive Caucus budget was overwhelmingly voted down, 84 to 327.