The Hill News

A leading Republican lawmaker stressed on Sunday that the recently unveiled “Pledge to America” was not the official GOP platform, but rather that it is merely “the first steps” to getting the economy back on track.

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.), the vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, told CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union” that Republicans will worry about the party's long-term goals after the immediate economic problems are handled.

“This is a governing document for today,” said McMorris-Rodgers. “This isn’t the Republican platform; this isn’t everything the Republicans want to accomplish.

“These are the first steps, these are priority issues that we believe need to be addressed today and we can very much take on a balanced budget amendment at a different time.”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) agreed, telling Crowley that after the ideas raised in the 45-page “Pledge” document were implemented, then Republicans would address key issues such as how to handle entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“The ‘Pledge’ is for the here and now,” said Blackburn. “These are things that could be done right now, before the November elections and they should be. What we do is roll the spending back, cap it, freeze federal hiring and then start working our way through.”

“[After they are implemented] then let’s sit down and have an adult discussion between the our elected representatives of how we address entitlements and how we make certain that the commitments that are there on Medicare and Social Security are going to be kept.”

Crowley asked the Republican lawmakers whether in putting off the long-term fixes, they “dodged the tough stuff” in their ‘Pledge.’

Both lawmakers replied with a vehement, “No.”