As Alex notes below, the House today passed another short-term budget bill that makes a few billion dollars in new spending cuts while kicking the need to reach a broader spending deal down the road for three weeks. Congressional Democrats have been frustrated that the Obama White House is not fighting the GOP’s cuts more aggressively, and today appears no different. Below is the statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney on the continuing budget resolution:
The short-term funding bill passed in the House of Representatives today gives Congress some breathing room to find consensus on a long-term measure that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year. The President urges the Senate to pass this bill to avoid a government shutdown that would be harmful to our economic recovery. But the President has been clear: with the wide range of issues facing our nation, we cannot keep funding the government in two or three week increments. It is time for us to come together, find common ground and resolve this issue in a sensible way. There is no disagreement on whether to cut spending to put us on a path to live within our means, but we can’t sacrifice critical investments that will help us out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our global competitors to win the future. We have already met Republicans halfway, and we are optimistic that Congress can get this done.
The question is whether the White House is getting ready to pivot. I’m not privy to Obama’s strategy here (assuming he has one), but this statement’s call for an end to short-term budget bills would be consistent with the theory that Obama has made an effort to look conciliatory and reasonable about spending cuts before making his stand and counterattacking the GOP. Recent like this one, finding the public would take his side in a shutdown fight, no doubt help to embolden him.
Update: Greg Sargent makes a strong case that the numbers are better for Democrats than their thus-far cautious behavior in this showdown would indicate. One key data point:
* Far more think that Republicans have been not willing enough to compromise on the deficit (71 percent) , than think the same about Obama (52 percent) or Democrats (56 percent).