House Speaker John Boehner holds a press conference with House Republicans. Paul Ryan blasts Boehner over budget deal 'I think the process stinks,' Ryan says of the secretive talks that produced the tentative budget and debt ceiling agreement.

Rep. Paul Ryan on Tuesday blasted Speaker John Boehner, Senate leadership and the White House for the secretive process they used to negotiate a two-year budget and debt ceiling agreement that appears poised to pass Congress this week.

"I think the process stinks," said Ryan, who is expected to be elected speaker on Thursday. The Wisconsin Republican added that he hadn't gone through the details of the agreement, which was released Monday night.


"This is not the way to do the people's business," Ryan said. "And under new management we are not going to do the people's business this way. We are up against a deadline — that's unfortunate. But going forward we can't do the people's business (this way). As a conference we should've been meeting months ago to discuss these things to have a unified strategy going forward."

Ryan has promised major changes to the legislative process as speaker in response to complaints from conservatives. They say Boehner's style has been too top-down and crisis-driven, largely ignoring the input of committees and rank-and-file members.

Ryan has been an ally of Boehner's throughout the Ohio Republican's five years as speaker. Ryan's remarks criticizing how the deal came to fruition represent his starkest public split with the man he's set to replace as Republican leader.

Boehner said he wasn't a fan of the process himself. "Totally agree, totally agree," the outgoing speaker said in response to Ryan's criticism.

Parroting Ryan's own terminology, Boehner added, "It stinks. This is not the way to run a railroad."

At the same time, Boehner defended the substance of the deal, which would stave off the dual threat of a debt default and a government shutdown for more than a year. The 144-page agreement would boost spending by $80 billion over two years — split between defense and non-defense programs — and save hundreds of billions of dollars through changes to entitlement programs, including Social Security disability insurance.

The measure would also forestall a large increase in Medicare premiums for some beneficiaries that was set to kick in in January.

The federal government risks a first-ever default if its borrowing authority wasn't extended by Nov. 3. A little more than a month later, government funding is set to expire.

The pact has broad backing in Congress among both parties, and the White House has signed off as well.

Some conservatives have objected to the fact that rank-and-file members were not included in the talks, as well as to aspects of the deal, but they don't appear to have the votes to stop it from passing.

"While it certainly is not the process I would like, remember what the alternative was. The alternative was a clean debt ceiling (bill) or default on our debt .. (and when) we got to Dec. 11, we would be facing another government shutdown.

"So when you look at the alternative, it starts to look a whole lot better. But I would hope that the process in the future would have a little more length to it and involve more members," Boehner concluded.

Ryan, the likely next speaker, has not said how he'll vote on the accord, which is expected on the House floor Wednesday. The deal, however, helps Ryan immensely. It sets budget levels for two years, lifts the debt ceiling until March 2017 and removes the threat of a government shutdown until October 2016. Ryan did not negotiate the deal, and wants to put some space between himself and the accord. Many Republicans are expected to vote against it.

The House Republican Conference will vote on Ryan's candidacy for speaker Wednesday and the full House will vote on the next speaker Thursday.