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The battle of wills may foreshadow new nastiness over the coming months as Congress turns to writing a budget, fixing the Medicare payment formula for doctors and shoring up the nation’s highway system. The emerging bipartisan House solution to the Medicare payment system is already being quietly opposed by Mr. Reid. Unlike Speaker John A. Boehner’s power in the House, which had seemingly been limited to thwarting Mr. Obama’s agenda while Democrats controlled the Senate, Mr. McConnell’s newly won status came with a charge to alter his party’s image from obstructionists to policy architects in service to its candidate for the White House. (Steinhauer, 3/20)

Speaker John Boehner’s newest tack is to go big. Over the next week, the Ohio Republican and his top lieutenants plan to jam two big-ticket items through the House — a show of strength for a leadership team stung by a string of defeats and facing doubts about whether it even can govern. ... First, to get a budget approved, the Republican leaders intend to employ a parliamentary maneuver to boost defense spending by $20 billion without any corresponding spending cuts. They’re betting the move will help break a stalemate between fiscal hardliners and defense hawks. Within days of that, the GOP leaders will try to pass a permanent fix to the “Sustainable Growth Rate,” a formula by which the federal government reimburses doctors who serve Medicare patients. (Sherman and Bresnahan, 3/20)

As chairman of the House Budget Committee when Mr. Gingrich was speaker and Bill Clinton was president, Mr. Kasich drove legislation to balance the federal budget. Recently, he wrapped up a six-week national tour, lobbying lawmakers in states like South Dakota and Montana to adopt a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced budget. ... But Mr. Kasich delights in poking his own party. He enraged conservatives by expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and quoted the Bible in explaining his decision. (Stolberg, 3/19)