McCaskill says she's one vote shy of approving spending caps

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Wednesday she's a vote short of being able to approve a long-sought cap on increases in spending.

McCaskill said she picked up a vote for the proposal she's crafted with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to cap the rate of growth in both defense and nondefense discretionary spending between fiscal years 2010 and 2014.

"We're just short of the mark. I've been working individually with various senators' offices, trying to get two more votes — what we need to put a cap on growth of the federal government," the Missouri centrist said in a conference call with state reporters. "And I think I've secured one of those votes, so I just need one more, and I'm going to spend part of the day today working on that."

McCaskill and Sessions have offered their proposal as an amendment to different pieces of legislation several times before, most recently in early June, when it fell several votes short of passage. Because all 41 Republicans have said they support the caps, McCaskill needs another 19 Democrats. In the June vote, 17 Democrats supported the measure.

McCaskill did not say where she picked up support — or where she's looking for support — and a spokeswoman for the senator refused to say which senators are being targeted. One possibility is the new Sen. Carte Goodwin (D-W.Va.), who replaces the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). Byrd was absent for the June vote on the spending cap.

Either way, McCaskill has proven herself an adept vote-counter on some issues, as evidenced by her work in getting together the 67 votes necessary to change the Senate rules to end the practice of anonymous holds on presidential nominees.

She said she thought it was "important" to accomplish the spending caps, and that she'd push forward with Sessions on the effort in the days to come.