Government Shutdown Could Be Two Weeks Off
The New York Times reports:
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Friday marched confidently toward approving the largest spending cuts in modern history, setting the stage for a standoff with Senate Democrats and the White House that each side has warned could lead to a shutdown of the federal government early next month.
With just two weeks to go before the stopgap measure now financing the government expires, and Congress in recess next week, party leaders conceded that there was not enough time to forge a deal and that a short-term extension would be needed to avert a shutdown.
But with the rhetoric in the House only growing more strident, and with politically charged amendments dominating the action on Friday, lawmakers and Washington at large have begun to face the possibility that even a temporary accord will be difficult to achieve.
The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, has said that he would not agree to a short-term extension without added cuts in spending, which is now being held generally at 2010 levels. Democrats have not shown any willingness to give ground, apparently betting that Republicans will be held responsible for a shutdown, as they were in 1995.
“The last thing the American people need is for Congressional Republicans or Democrats to draw a line in the sand that hinders keeping the government open,” the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, said at a news conference. “Closing our government would mean our men and women in uniform wouldn’t receive their paychecks, and veterans would lose critical benefits. Seniors wouldn’t receive their Social Security checks, and essential functions from food safety inspection to airport security could come to a halt.”
Aides to the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, sought to play down the possibility of a stalemate that would shutter the government, but they accused Democrats of rooting for that outcome.
“Instead of cheering for a shutdown, Senate Democrats should join their Republican colleagues in doing the hard work of cutting spending,” Don Stewart, a spokesman for Mr. McConnell, said on Friday.
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