SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was critical Tuesday of a new two-year budget deal between GOP leaders and the White House intended to avert the threat of government shutdowns and debt defaults through the next presidential election.

"(Rep.) Paul Ryan is right to say the process stinks. But underlying that process, there's some substance that stinks as well," Lee told KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright, referring to the deal made in secret by outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is expected to take over from Boehner at the end of the month, said the process that led the budget and debt ceiling agreement "stinks" and "is not the way to do the people's business."

By setting spending levels for two years, the agreement puts an end to the possibility of government shutdowns over budget issues such as federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

That battle went right to the Sept. 30 deadline for passing a spending bill this year. In 2013, Lee, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led a fight against President Barack Obama's health care law that resulted in a 16-day federal government shutdown.

Congress now faces a Nov. 3 deadline for raising the nation's debt limit or risk defaulting on loans. The agreement avoids tumbling off that fiscal cliff through March 2017 by suspending the nation's debt limit.

Lee said he has "grave concerns with the proposed deal" shared by others in Congress.

"It's 144 pages long, and it's got profound implications that stretch over two fiscal years and will have financial implications beyond that, that will extend for decades," he said.

Those include what Lee termed "gimmicks," shifting money between programs while "virtually none of the supposed spending cuts would happen over the next two years, which means that they're not likely to transpire at all."

Lee said odds are that the deal will pass, but "governing by cliff and crisis is not leadership" and doesn't allow Americans to feel "they have a voice."

"That's why so many people feel disenfranchised right now," he said. "They deserve better."

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, also took issue with the process that produced the deal.

"It’s frustrating that the bill was just released (Monday) night and we’ll be voting (Wednesday). That’s a lousy process. I’m looking over the details carefully, after which I’ll decide whether I’ll support it,” Stewart said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, isn't ready to back the deal, his spokesman, J.P. Freire, said in a statement.

"Sen. Hatch appreciates the work of his colleagues in putting together this package. But, as he always says, the devil’s in the details, and he will have to carefully review the package before deciding whether this is something he can get behind," Freire said.

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