Senate leaders battle over credit for budget cuts

The Democratic and GOP leaders in the Senate both sought to take credit for last week’s spending bill in dueling floor speeches on Tuesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said a "sea change" had taken place in Washington because of GOP efforts to tackle the deficit. The House and Senate will vote this week on a spending measure to reduce this year’s spending by $39.9 billion.

"It wasn’t that long ago that both the White House and the Democratic leaders in Congress were doing everything they could to grow the nation’s $15 trillion in debt," McConnell said. "Spending cuts that Democrats were recently calling 'extreme' and 'draconian' they are now calling 'historic' and 'common sense.'"

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) came to the floor just minutes later to hail the proposed cuts as "historic" and take the credit for Democrats.

"I'm pleased that the budget will make historic cuts — saving the country money so we can lower our deficit and do a better job of living within our means," said Reid. "All indications show that the American people are pleased, as well. A clear majority of the country is glad we reached an agreement, and they approve of the agreement we made."

But Reid said that just because Democrats and Republicans both supported cuts didn’t mean they were on the same page.

"What we cut will always be more important than how much we cut," said Reid. "Our positions couldn’t be more different."

Reid then accused Republicans of attempting to repeal Americans' rights to healthcare and trying to "use the budget to kick little boys and girls out of kindergarten."