House

Republican to colleague: You have an ‘awful job’

Serving as the No. 2 lawmaker on the House Budget Committee is a heavy burden to bear, a House Republican argued Tuesday.

During a back-and-forth on the floor about the House GOP budget, Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) facetiously suggested that Rep. Todd Rokita’s (R-Ind.) position as vice chairman of the House Budget Committee is “unpleasant.” Rokita became the Budget Committee vice chairman this year.

{mosads}”It is unpleasant work. I don’t know why you took the job, I say to my friend from Indiana. It is an awful job to be vice chair of the Budget Committee, because your job is to do the things that haven’t gotten done before. Your job is to do the things that were too hard for everybody else to do. And you’ve stepped into the breach to do it,” Woodall said.

The House GOP budget blueprint released Tuesday would balance in nine years and cut $5.5 trillion in spending over the next decade.

Woodall argued that finding a way to eliminate the federal deficit should be a priority in establishing an annual budget.

“We’re talking about, are you going to balance the budget ever? Or are you going to borrow from your children and your grandchildren as far as the eye can see?” Woodall said.

The budget resolution will be marked up in committee this week and is expected to hit the House floor next week.