House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said that Tuesday night’s victory by Tea Party-backed candidate Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate Republican primary was an indication that what happened in the House during the 2010 elections is starting to happen in the Senate. He also discussed the presidential election and tax cut bills now making their way through Congress during this wide-ranging conversation with political journalists hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Late Tuesday, Speaker Boehner announced that the two parties and the White House had come to an agreement on a budget to keep the government running for the first half of FY 2013, which begins in October. The budget bill will not be considered until after the August recess, however, allowing the Congressional Budget Office to score it.