Graphic shows highlights of budget deal; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks about the pending bipartisan budget compromise struck by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. While the newly minted budget deal is aimed at averting future government shutdowns, Pelosi is disappointed that it fails to include certain unemployment insurance protections. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., center, flanked by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., left, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY., right, the Democratic Policy Committee chairman, listens during a news conference on budget, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) - The battle-fatigued U.S. House moved toward passage Thursday of legislation to ease across-the-board spending cuts and prevent future government shutdowns after Speaker John Boehner unleashed a stinging attack on tea party-aligned conservative groups campaigning for the measure's defeat. "I think they're misleading their followers," the Republican speaker said of the groups, whom he pointedly also blamed for last fall's politically damaging partial government shutdown. I think they're pushing our members in places where they don't want to be. And frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility" by opposing legislation before the details are known." He mentioned no organizations by names, although it appeared he was referring to Heritage Action and Club for Growth, both of which have sought to push the House further to the right than the Republican leadership has been willing to go. Budget debate on the House floor was tame by comparison, suggesting a bipartisan coalition would easily supply enough support to send the plan to a final vote in the Senate next week. The agreement, negotiated by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin - and endorsed by the White House - would set overall spending levels for the current budget year and the one that begins on Oct. 1, 2014. That straightforward action would probably eliminate the possibility of another government shutdown and reduce the opportunity for the periodic brinkmanship of the kind that has flourished in the current three-year era of divided government. The measure would erase $65 billion in across-the-board cuts set for January and early 2015 on domestic and defense programs, leaving about $140 billion in reductions in place. On the other side of the budget ledger, it projects savings totaling $85 billion over the coming decade, enough to show a deficit reduction of about $23 billion over the 10-year period. The cuts would be replaced with money from, among other things, higher airline security fees, curbs on the pension benefits of new federal workers or working-age military retirees and premium increases on companies whose pension plans are insured by the federal government. The bill includes a 90-day provision that postpones a 20 percent cut in reimbursements for doctors who treat Medicare patients and replaces it with an increase of one-half of one percent The combination of short-term spending increases and long-term savings would send deficits higher for the current budget year and each of the next two, a dramatic departure from the conservative orthodoxy that Republicans have enforced since taking control of the House three years ago. That was a step too far for many Republicans, including some seeking election to the Senate next year. Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, one of several Senate hopefuls from his state, said he would vote against the legislation. He said the existing across-the-board cuts "have a tendency to cut out muscle with fat, but it's still the only tool in town for cutting spending." Rep. Tom Cotton, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, announced his opposition, too, and said the legislation "busts the spending caps that took effect just months ago by spending billions now in exchange for supposed long-term spending cuts." Other Republicans said despite shortcomings, the bill was the best the party could get in divided government. "We have Republican and Democratic-controlled houses and as a result no one solution is possible," said Rep. Darrell Issa of California. Echoing Boehner's sentiments, he said of the outside groups, "What do they want, another government shutdown? If so, they ought to run for Congress. Democrats were conflicted, but for different reasons. There was general support for easing across-the-board reductions in programs like education, Head Start and transportation - deficit reduction that Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York called a disaster. Yet Democrats were unhappy that the measure lacked an extension of unemployment benefits due to expire on Dec. 28. Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland asked for a separate vote on that issue, but Republicans refused. "This fight will continue because this is about the morality of our country, the respect that we have for people, the value we place on work," said the Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. The expiring program provides benefits to unemployed workers who have been without work for more than 26 weeks. The cost of a one-year extension was put at $25 billion. Still, aides said Pelosi intended to vote in favor of the legislation, and many other Democrats were expected to do likewise. The debate on the House floor was overshadowed by Boehner's comments at his news conference. The speaker, who famously says he is not affected by stress, has been criticized by some Republicans this year who accuse him of buckling under pressure from outside groups and their allies in the rank and file. He was elected to a second term as speaker in January after an attempt by some rebels to dislodge him. The October shutdown seemed on Boehner's mind as he answered questions a few hours before the vote. They pushed us into this fight to defund 'Obamacare' and to shut down the government. ... That wasn't exactly the strategy that I had in mind," he said. But if you recall, the day before the government reopened, one of the people that - one of these groups stood up and said, well, we never really thought it would work. Are you kidding me? Boehner's public criticism was part of a broader response by the Republican establishment in recent months as it struggles with the power of organizations like Heritage Action, the Club For Growth, and the Senate Conservatives Fund. Earlier this year, the Senate Republican campaign organization, effectively an extension of the leadership, let it be known it would not give any business to Jamestown Associates, an advertising firm that has worked for the Senate Conservatives Fund. Republican officials also have urged traditional political allies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to step up their involvement in campaigns as a way to counter the influence of tea party-aligned groups, and in one or two cases, have noted with satisfaction that particularly hard-line rebels in the House will face primary challengers next year. Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action, rebuffed Boehner's accusation that opposition to the legislation was uninformed. Everything was widely known about what this deal was. We were concerned it was going to increase spending in the near term, and it does. We were concerned it was going to increase deficits in the near term and it does. The Club for Growth issued a statement that took no note of Boehner's comments. It urged lawmakers to oppose the legislation, calling it "a deliberate attempt to avoid modest but much needed spending cuts in exchange for the promise of spending cuts in the future." Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.