Only in Washington is a 14% cut seen as a draconian, medieval torture level measure beyond which a massive organization cannot function.
Without knowing exactly what the cuts entailed, I’d guess they were reductions in future growth (i.e. Instead of growing 20% in 2014, they were only allowed to grow 10%) rather than ACTUAL cuts.
All that notwithstanding, how could the Tea Party have driven anything when the Republican Party didn’t actually take control of the House until 2011. Sure, they won the House in 2010 but didn’t take control until 2011. The first budget they could possibly have influenced was the 2012 budget.