John Boehner, who often meets the press flanked by a team of deputies, took the podium alone on Thursday. With a week left before the government shuts down April 8, the House Speaker took pains to dispel rumors of a deal. “There is no agreement” on a pact that would cut $33 billion from the federal budget, Boehner insisted, despite …
John Boehner
House Republicans Hold the Line on Spending Cuts
TPM’s Brian Beutler reports that House Republicans are prepared to reject a White House offer to cut more than $30 billion from the federal budget over the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year. The sticking point, Beutler writes, is a dispute over whether some of the money should come from mandatory spending programs:
Democrats are pushing
…
With a Shutdown Looming, Budget Bickering Intensifies
Rested from its weeklong recess, Congress returns on Monday for its latest round of budget brinksmanship. After a half-dozen stopgap funding bills in as many months, the threat of a government shutdown looms once more, with the lights set to go off on April 8 — unless the two parties can hammer out a deal that runs through the end of …
Could Republicans Buck Their Leaders Over Spending Cuts?
For a second time this month, Congress faces a weekend deadline to negotiate a stopgap funding measure to keep the federal government open. And as recently as Sunday, it appeared to be a relatively light lift. House Republican leaders and Senate Democrats have signaled support for a three-week continuing resolution that would trim $6 …
Obama Defends His Record on Gas Prices, Budget Talks and Libya
President Obama today rejected GOP criticisms that he has not done enough to address the rising price of oil and that his Administration had helped cause the spike by limiting domestic oil and gas production.
“Last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003,” Obama told reporters in a wide-ranging press …
The Third Rail
You wanna cut? We’ll show you cuts. That seems to be the new mantra Democrats have adopted in response to the GOP’s assault on spending. Dems this week have suggested expanding the debate from discretionary spending to taking on all of the sacred cows: farm subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, taxes and the Pentagon. Well, almost all. What’s …
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
The Senate tomorrow is scheduled to begin deliberations on the long-term omnibus to fund the government for the rest of the year. In an example of why this will surely take longer than two weeks to decide, Dems aren’t even sure they can dispense with votes on both the House and Senate versions until Friday – even though every one …
Anteing Up in the High Stakes Game of Cutting Spending
For any kind of camel trader, used car salesman or politician the first bid in a negotiation is rarely the number they actually expect to get. Some suckers may agree to pay that price, but most people bargain. House Speaker John Boehner’s first bid was $32 billion in cuts, a number his freshmen laughed at. They jacked their bid up to …
Boehner’s Balancing Act
In politics and media, there is a basic (and quite cynical) maxim that says you should only pick fights with people bigger than you. A guppy who might ordinarily struggle to earn headlines can garner attention by attaching his name to a shark. That’s basically what Tea Party Nation’s Judson Phillips did by writing a letter to John …
Shut Down Averted, Now What?
Updated
Stop the presses! The federal government won’t shut down on Friday!! Okay, for anyone paying even a modicum of attention to the news in the last week, this shouldn’t come as much of a shocker. But, the two-week deferral passed by the Senate today 91-9 does nothing to bridge the $60 billion gap between the two chambers. So, …
It’s Official: A Government Shut Down Has Been Averted (For Now)
UPDATED with House vote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters Tuesday that he will accept House Republicans’ two-week extension of government funding that comes with $4 billion in cuts. The House this afternoon passed the bill 335-91 with overwhelming bipartisan support. Reid says he will push that measure through the …
Five Members of Congress to Watch In the Budget Showdown
The House is expected to pass a stopgap measure on Tuesday to fund the government for the next two weeks while House and Senate negotiators work on a longer-term solution. Senate Democrats are still mulling over whether they want to pass the House bill or send it back with amendments, but it’s looking likely that something will pass …
Boehner & McConnell’s Secret Plan to Avert a Shutdown
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been working behind the scenes to draft a two-week stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown that would include $4 billion in immediate cuts, according to House and Senate GOP aides.
The House would move first – the Rules Committee could meet as early as …