The president is already touting the fact that the deal would bring record defense spending, something that appeals to defense hawks in his party.
“I think the president realizes that he’s not going to sacrifice the security of this nation to please a few people,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican. Shelby noted the GOP needs Democratic votes to pass the budget deal and they won’t support cutting social programs.
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas called the outlines of the deal “not ideal” but said it would be worse to not fund the government or defense.
“Obviously you’ve got to pay a certain amount of ransom,” Cornyn said.
The ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Mac Thornberry of Texas, praised the agreement for increasing Defense spending -- though he wanted more.
“We cannot underestimate the incredible benefit of funding our troops on time for the second year in a row, something Congress hasn’t done in recent memory,” he said.
Other Republicans ripped it, and many had urged Trump to stick to the spending caps.
Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina made his distaste known by tweeting a picture of The Joker standing in front of a fire.
“With more than $22 trillion in debt, we simply cannot afford deals like this one,” said Representative Mike Johnson, the head of the conservative Republican Study Committee caucus.
For Pelosi, the deal allows her to secure increased domestic spending for two years even though Democrats do not control the Senate or the White House. The roughly $80 billion in savings she agreed to mostly extend policies on Medicare and customs fees rather than representing some new round of fiscal discipline that would be felt by voters. And she nixed a White House attempt to continue budget caps for two years beyond 2021, bringing to an end one of the major accomplishments of the Tea Party era.