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Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, who may chair the Senate Budget Committee next year, says he wants to balance the budget in 10 years. It's possible on paper, but practically it's unlikely to fly, budget hawks say.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"We must produce a budget that achieves balance within 10 years," Jeff Sessions said last week.

Sessions, who may end up in charge of the Senate's budget committee next year, is not the first Republican to call for a balanced budget in a decade. House Speaker John Boehner and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan have supported the idea as recently as last year.

But big questions remain over whether it can be done.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that to balance the budget by 2025 would require savings of $5.5 trillion -- $4.7 trillion in spending cuts or new taxes and $800 billion in interest savings.

And here's the thing: That assumes lawmakers don't pass any new laws that raise spending or cut taxes and add to deficits.

It also means no more renewals of "temporary" tax breaks for businesses and individuals. No more "doc fixes" to boost Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors. And no more talk of raising the "sequester" spending caps on defense, which many Republicans want to do.

Republicans, of course, are loath to raise taxes. So balancing the budget in 10 years would require huge spending cuts -- by more than 10% over the decade.

A model for the venture could be Ryan's most recent budget proposal, which balanced after 10 years.

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Can the Republicans balance the budget?

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the first sitting Republican senator to publicly support gay marriage, is beginning to feel the backlash from social conservatives as he prepares for his re-election campaign or a possible White House bid in 2016.

But the uproar being made by some has yet to materialize into a real political problem for the first-term senator.

Just days after the midterms, the National Organization for Marriage pledged to make sure that GOP primary voters are aware of his desire to redefine marriage, and urged conservatives not to vote for Portman in the general election. The statement echoed the feelings of many of Ohios so-called values voters, or those who place issues like traditional marriage and anti-abortion rights above all else. They felt betrayed by Portman when he changed his thinking on gay marriage after learning his son is gay.

"I will not cross that moral line to vote for him"

While conservative activists have made headlines for renouncing their support for him, the threats are unlikely to carry much weight unless the states anti-Portman faction of the GOP can coalesce around a single candidate to battle him in the Senate primary. More than a dozen conservative leaders in Ohio are currently working on finding that person, but it has not been easy.

Its very hard to find a high-profile Republican who will run against him because they dont want to give up their own seat, or the Golden Rule is that you just dont run against another Republican, said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Ohio and one of Portmans most outspoken critics since his gay marriage switch.

But there will be people running against him, Burress said. He predicts that a number of conservatives will challenge Portman if he runs again for Senate.

For their part, Portman aides say they dont expect a credible primary challenger to emerge, but will be ready if one does. The senator remains personally popular, is well-liked by Ohios establishment GOP and has a robust network of donors from his years in politics. Aides also feel issues like the economy will be much more import to Ohio voters than gay marriage, which has become increasingly acceptable to the American public and is now legal in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Recent fears of far-right candidates mounting successful primary challenges to incumbent GOP senators proved unfounded in the 2014 elections. Mississippis Chris McDaniel came close, but ended up losing his race against Sen. Thad Cochran in a runoff.

We take nothing for granted, we never do, said Matt Borges, chair of the Ohio Republican party. I suspect we have a very good chance that, when its all said and done, the results look very similar to how they did on Election Day in 2014, when all the shouting is over.

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Ohio's Rob Portman Weathering Backlash from Gay Marriage Foes

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This Republican will tell you how science is going to change when his party takes control of the Senate.

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