EXCLUSIVE– GOP Congressman: Unfair for Conservatives to Blame Paul Ryan for Omnibus

Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) told Breitbart News Friday that he voted against the $1 trillion omnibus bill because he had significant problems with it, but that it isn’t fair for conservatives to blame House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Guinta told Breitbart News that he has been contacted by many unhappy constituents, but believes that Americans shouldn’t focus their anger on Ryan.

“When it came to this piece of legislation, I don’t think it was particularly fair to blame him personally” Guinta told Breitbart News. “He inherited a budget deal that had an extra 80 billion dollars of domestic spending in it.”

“I actually give him credit for trying to work with the conference,” Guinta said of Ryan. “He tried to include things that were important to different members.”

Guinta acknowledged that his opinion probably differs from many of his conservative colleagues, but he believes that Ryan did the best he could “given the circumstances that he was handed.”

“I have a lot of respect for the speaker,” said Guinta. “I believe that Paul is very much focused on trying to deal with the drivers of our debt and deficit. I think he’s very focused on wanting to, particularly next year, deal with tax reform and entitlement reform.”

Guinta said that the reason he didn’t support the legislation is because he doesn’t believe the bill puts America, “on the track of reducing spending.”