Senate Dems Expect Deal to Pass

The Hill reports:

Senate leaders expect a bipartisan budget deal reached late last week to easily pass the upper chamber Thursday afternoon.

Democrats are by-and-large happy the spending agreement does not cut the Head Start early education program or slash Pell Grants – although it would eliminate summer Pell Grants.

Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has jurisdiction over health and education programs, said he would vote for the deal.

“We have no reduction in Pell Grants and we kept a lot of our other priorities in there. There will be no reductions in Head Start, ” he said, noting that the summer grants would be eliminated, something President Obama proposed in his budget plan.

Some Democrats such as Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have concerns over the legislation but the opposition within the Democratic caucus is not strong.

“It’s not significant,” Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said when asked about the number of potential defections. “We have a number of senators we’re still talking to.”

A senior Senate GOP aide predicted that five to 10 conservative lawmakers might vote against the deal, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).