Paul Ryan says he will still back the budget deal, even though the process 'stinks'

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced Wednesday morning that he will support the tentative budget deal reached by Congressional leaders and the White House to raise the debt limit. While Ryan, who is the Republican Party's top candidate to succeed John Boehner as House speaker, initially slammed the process of making the deal, he said he ultimately supports its contents.

"What has been produced will go a long way toward relieving the uncertainty hanging over us, and that's why I intend to support it," Ryan said in a statement. "It’s time for us to turn the page on the last few years and get to work on a bold agenda that we can take to the American people."

Ryan did, however, vow to replace the current process, which he says "stinks," with a process "that builds trust" if he becomes the next speaker of the House. "There is no doubt that a better process would have produced a better result," Ryan said. "If I'm elected speaker, we will begin a conversation about how to approach these big issues — as a team — long before we reach these kinds of deadlines. We simply can't keep doing business this way."

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The $80 billion, two-year budget deal reached Monday night would raise the debt ceiling to avert the government defaulting on its debts and would roll back some 2011 spending cuts, moderately increasing defense and domestic spending. A vote on the deal could come as soon as Wednesday.