Dems Offer $20B More in Cuts

The Hill reports:

Senate Democrats and the White House on Monday were working to finalize a new counteroffer to the GOP on 2011 spending cuts.

The counteroffer would cut an additional $20 billion from 2011 spending on top of the $10 billion already cut by two short-term continuing resolutions enacted this month, sources close to the talks said.

The proposal is being put together under the direction of White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, who was trying to get Senate caucus agreement on where the cuts would come from. The proposal would be made by Senate Democrats to House Republicans.

The offer has not been shared with House Republicans yet, and there was “radio silence” from the GOP over the weekend, a congressional aide said.

Tensions are rising with the possibility of a government shutdown approaching. The current measure funding the government expires on April 8, meaning if Congress does not approve a new measure by then there will be a government shutdown.

Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office expressed frustration on Monday.

Reid blamed the Tea Party for an impasse in the talks, arguing that mainstream Republicans and the Tea Party are divided over how much to cut, and that this prevented substantive negotiations over the weekend.

"I am extremely disappointed that after weeks of productive negotiations with Speaker Boehner, Tea Party Republicans are scrapping all the progress we have made and threatening to shut down the government if they do not get all of their extreme demands," Reid said in a statement. "The division between the Tea Party and mainstream Republicans is preventing us from reaching a responsible solution on a long-term budget that will make smart cuts while protecting American jobs, and prevented negotiations from taking place over the weekend even as the clock ticks toward a government shutdown."

Boehner's (R-Ohio) office demanded that the Senate pass a bill with its list of acceptable cuts.

“We haven’t seen such a proposal. It’s been nearly 40 days since the House passed a long-term bill to cut spending and fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, and the Democrats in the Senate still haven’t passed anything. The Senate needs to do its job and pass a bill," said Michael Steel, spokesman for Boehner.