WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Ryan is voting for a temporary spending bill hefting a price tag that's $19 billion more than the budget he authored.
Ryan on Thursday returned to Congress for the first votes since being named Republican Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee. Ryan plans to cast a vote in favor of a budget bill that puts the government on autopilot for six months.
The temporary spending bill is needed to avert a government shutdown when the current budget year expires Sept. 30.
Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck says the temporary spending "is another indictment of the president's failure to lead."
Ryan is the House's top budget writer and his alternative budget won him praise from conservatives. House Republicans have passed his budget, but it has stalled in the Senate, where Democrats control.
