After proposing a sparse budget on March 29 and following a intense and divisive few weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, House GOP leaders ultimately pulled the plug on the $2.8 trillion FY 2007 budget resolution late on April 6. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who admittedly spent the week "popping Advil" in preparation for difficult negotiations with his colleagues, failed time and again to emerge from these talks with enough votes to pass the resolution--a significant setback in what was his first real test as the new Majority Leader. Boehner attempted the difficult task during negotiations of finding a compromise that balances moderates' calls for more discretionary spending with the demands of conservatives that spending be held down. Toward such an accord, Boehner courted conservatives with promises of legislation and floor consideration for radical budget process changes. While a budget deal wasn't reached, it remains uncertain if the promises made to conservatives on budget process changes will be kept. The failed vote, coupled with the election-shortened legislative session, increases the likelihood that Congress will not have the time or the will to agree to the harmful FY 2007 budget this year. This uncertainty was reinforced by a belief among many members that the House and Senate would not be able to reach a compromise on the budget even if the House approves its version. While the Senate passed a budget bill on March 16 that added $9 billion in discretionary spending to the overall amount requested by President Bush, the House was expected to keep discretionary levels on par with those requested by the administration--at $873 billion. Many members saw the vote, according to The Hill, "as an unnecessary test during what has become a difficult stretch for the Republican Party." Because this is an election year, many members thus were wary of casting politically difficult votes in favor of a bill that would cut funding for already-strapped federal programs, especially since these cuts would likely die in conference with the Senate. The failed budget vote highlights the difficulty lawmakers often face in confronting highly-charged spending issues during important election years, as well as the increasing troubled Republican party's ability to govern. Three Factions Too Many To Overcome What ultimately derailed the negotiations was not a breakdown between moderates and conservatives (although that rift was far from repaired), but Boehner's move to allow a specific proposal requiring that the Budget Committee approve all non-defense emergency spending over $4.3 billion. This proposal angered Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who then publicly stated his opposition to the budget. Lewis was subsequently able to use his sway in the committee to get other Republicans to defect, leaving the party far short of the number of votes it would need in a caucus already divided between two factions--moderates who wanted more discretionary spending and conservatives who wanted less. A memo released by the Appropriations committee, which is often at odds with the budget committee, calls the $4.3 billion emergency cap "a threshold number plucked out of the sky" that is at least $3 billion below the 10-year average for disaster aid. These defections proved to be a huge blow to Boehner, who is struggling to prove himself as leader of a party that has been under increasing fire of late. While tension between radical conservatives in Congress and appropriators has been apparent throughout the period of Republican majority, it came rapidly to a boiling point last month, increasing divisiveness within the party. In late March, 29 Republicans, led by Republican Study Committee chair Mike Pence (R-IN), voted against the rule for an emergency spending bill (to fund U.S. wars) after party leaders refused to remove money from budget legislation that would go towards hurricane cleanup. The fiscal hawks, often interested in offsetting congressional spending, were hoping the leaders would allow them to consider an amendment both separating and offsetting the war and the hurricane cleanup costs. When this request was refused by the Republican leadership, support for the leadership among radically conservative members of Congress wavered. Even if factions within the House are able to hammer out a truce and pass a budget bill, a difficult conference with the Senate still lies ahead. The Senate completed its budget work March 16, passing an FY 2007 budget plan (S Con Res 83) complete with floor amendments adding $16 billion in discretionary spending to the budget committee's markup. The Senate budget bill also includes a large emergency spending measure with items the president did not request that will certainly prove difficult to reconcile with the House.