If true, this Stephen Hayes story is terrible news for conservatives worried about what the debt limit deal's Super Congress might produce: Three Republican Senate sources tell TWS that senators who vote against the deal will be ineligible to serve on the so-called “supercommittee” for deficit reduction that the legislation creates. ... Excluding those who vote against the debt deal will ensure that some of the most fiscally conservative members of the Senate Republican caucus, including most of its freshmen, will be reading about the committee’s activities in the newspaper rather than guiding its decisions. Among those who have already declared their opposition to the deal: libertarian-leaning senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul; Jim DeMint, the aggressive fiscal hawk from South Carolina; conservative reformers Ron Johnson from Wisconsin and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania; the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, Jeff Sessions; and Florida’s Marco Rubio, already one of the highest-profile conservatives in Congress.
I sure hope that Hayes' three Republican sources for this story are either just blowing off steam or engaging in some indirect lobbying for last minute votes. As it stands now, the debt deal is a solid but small victory for conservatives. It would be a shame if Senate Republican leadership turned a win into a loss for spite.