The budget debate is far from over, but the good news is that they’re still talking: Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner are heading back to the White House at 1 p.m. on Thursday. But the morning’s gloomy prognostications don’t bode well for the chances of averting a government shutdown.
If you listen to …
In a matter of hours, not days, the country is likely to find out if trash will be picked up in Washington, D.C., next week, if Yosemite will temporarily shutter its gates, and if government-issued BlackBerrys will go silent. But there is something more than just the the smell of Washington city streets and views of Half Dome at play in …
President Obama and Speaker Boehner talked this morning by phone – always a good sign that the lines of communications remain open. Though, the fact that the discussion lasted all of three minutes is a tad troubling. As the government lurches towards a possible shutdown, I thought it would be useful to outline the choices facing the …
The odds of a government shutdown were raised significantly this morning after House GOP leaders and President Obama failed to reach an agreement to continue funding the government.
“While there was a good discussion, no agreement was reached,” Speaker John Boehner’s staff wrote in an e-mail to reporters following the White …
Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal is, without question, an act of political courage. It contains more than a few provisions that are long overdue–like cuts in farm subsidies and the consolidation of job-training programs (many of which are outdated and useless). I would even be willing to consider a Medicare overhaul that …
As budget talks between the President, Vice President and congressional leadership started at the White House just past 10 a.m. this morning, Press Secretary Jay Carney treated the press to an off-camera gaggle dominated by discussion of the budget.
Carney reiterated that by any measure, the White House believes Democrats have come …
It’s still not clear if House Republicans and President Obama will take their showdown all the way to a shutdown, but in case you can’t wait to watch it play out…
(h/t Jessica Taylor)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyXHA7xiChc&feature=youtu.be]
Updated
The stopgap measure currently funding the federal government runs out at midnight on Friday and new rules in Congress stipulate that legislation needs to be posted publicly at least 72 hours before a vote, meaning the deadline for a 2011 budget deal falls on Wednesday. Democrats claim both sides have agreed to a number– $33 …
“If you shut the government down, it’ll end up costing more than you’ll save because you interrupt contracts – there are a lot of problems with the idea of shutting the government down – it is not the goal,” Boehner said Friday outside his office suite in the Capitol.
He says there’s no deal yet, but this certainly …
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
…
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 …
The House of Representatives has passed a stopgap spending measure to keep the government running through April 8. The continuing resolution, which passed by a 271-158 margin, includes $6 billion in discretionary spending cuts. Now it heads over to the Democratic-controlled Senate, whose leaders have been receptive to a short-term fix …
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 …
