House Republicans get behind budget agreement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker John Boehner sharply criticized outside conservative groups opposed to year-end budget legislation today and said the measure "takes great steps in the right direction."

Hours before a scheduled vote on the bill, Boehner repeatedly denounced tea party-aligned organizations for their opposition, saying they were seeking to further their own objectives, not those of the Republican Party or the country.

"Frankly, I think they're misleading their followers. I think they're pushing our members into places where they don't want to be. And frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility," Boehner said at a news conference.

"You know, one of them, they pushed us into the fight to defund Obamacare and shut down the government," he said in an apparent reference to Heritage Action.

Heritage Action, Club for Growth and other groups have urged lawmakers to oppose the measure, some issuing their appeals before the legislation had been made public.

The legislation is designed to eliminate the threat of future government shutdowns like the one that took place in October and erase $65 billion in across-the-board spending cuts this year and next in areas ranging from defense to education.