Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner praised a sweeping budget and debt-ceiling deal GOP leaders introduced Monday night, calling it a "good deal" that ensures an increase in military spending and some entitlement reform.
"This agreement isn't perfect," Boehner said, but said the alternative deal would have resulted in no new increases in defense spending and no entitlement reform.
The deal, which lifts sequester budget caps and the debt ceiling in exchange for reforming the Social Security Disablity Insurance program, earned predictable criticism from fiscally conservative Republicans, many of whom are likely to vote against it when it comes to the floor for a vote this week.
"This is really the worst of the worst," Rep. John Fleming, R-La., said as he left a private meeting where Boehner, R-Ohio, unveiled the deal. "There was a lot of skepticism in the room."
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