Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerLongtime House parliamentarian to step down Five things we learned from this year's primaries Bad blood between Pelosi, Meadows complicates coronavirus talks MORE (R-Ohio) on Friday took a jab at the small group of fiscal conservatives who have fiercely opposed his bipartisan, $200 billion deal to reform Medicare.

“Conservatives should be happy we got this done, and confident Republicans will continue fighting to curb Washington’s worst habits for the sake of our children’s future,” Boehner John Andrew BoehnerLongtime House parliamentarian to step down Five things we learned from this year's primaries Bad blood between Pelosi, Meadows complicates coronavirus talks MORE wrote in an op-ed Friday for the IJ Review.

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The Medicare "doc fix" bill, which was personally negotiated by Boehner, was passed overwhelmingly passed in the Senate Tuesday night. President Obama signed the bill Thursday, staving off steep cuts to payments for doctors who accept Medicare.

Still, the bill drew sharp criticism from influential Republicans in Congress, including Sens. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzVideo of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Democrat on Graham video urging people to 'use my words against me': 'Done' MORE (Texas) and Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Florida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll MORE (Florida), who are both competing for the GOP presidential nomination.

They were joined by GOP Sens. Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeMcConnell shores up GOP support for coronavirus package McConnell tries to unify GOP Davis: The Hall of Shame for GOP senators who remain silent on Donald Trump MORE (Utah), David Perdue (Ga.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Tim Scott Timothy (Tim) Eugene ScottAuthor Ryan Girdusky: RNC worked best when highlighting 'regular people' as opposed to 'standard Republicans' Now is the time to renew our focus on students and their futures GOP lobbyists pleasantly surprised by Republican convention MORE (S.C.), Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE (Ala.) and Richard Shelby (Ala.) in voting against the bill.

Conservative groups including the Heritage Action Foundation and Club for Growth also fiercely opposed the legislation, which they claimed violates the GOP’s promise to reduce the deficit.

To appease fiscal conservatives, Senate leaders allowed Lee to propose an amendment that would force Congress to cover the full costs of the bill. That amendment failed 42-58, garnering the fewest votes out of all six amendments considered that night.

Boehner spent two months quietly working with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to solve a Medicare payment problem that has plagued congressional leaders for more than 20 years.

The stakes were high for Boehner, who tried and failed to secure a deal on the Medicare formula last year.

Boehner has repeatedly stressed that the bill saves money in the long term, arguing in his op-ed that the bill is an “important step” to ultimately reform Medicare.

“We all know that much more must be done to save our entitlement programs, but we have to start somewhere,” he wrote.