Pawlenty urges Congress to reject budget deal

Likely presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty came out today against the budget compromise reached Friday, adding a key voice to a growing conservative movement to reject the deal.

“The more we learn about the budget deal, the worse it looks,” the former Minnesota governor said in a statement. “When you consider that the federal deficit in February alone was over $222 billion, to have actual cuts less than the $38 billion originally advertised is just not serious.

“It’s no surprise that President Obama and Senator [Harry] Reid forced this budget, but it should be rejected,” Pawlenty said. “America deserves better.”

While Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) say the compromise, which needs to pass by Friday, will avert a government shutdown, an increasing number of Republicans say they will not support it.

Pawlenty is not the first potential presidential candidate to balk at the compromise — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has also spoken out against it — but while Bachmann get most of her support from the tea party, Pawlenty very much straddles the tea party and the establishment wings of the GOP. And the fact that he would come out against the deal suggests opposition to the compromise won’t just come from the tea party.

Pawlenty, it should be noted, has been making pains to appeal to the tea party in recent weeks. But he’s also careful enough not to pigeonhole himself as the candidate of the right wing of the GOP.

His decision to come out against the compromise should also put pressure on other potential presidential candidates to take a firm position. Not all of those candidates will stake out the same position, though; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, for instance, was calling for Republicans to make concessions down the stretch last week to avoid a shutdown.

Those who have previously come out against the compromise are mostly strong conservatives and tea party types, including House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

It’s not clear yet how much that position has caught on, but Pawlenty’s decision to come out against the deal could have far-reaching effects.