House GOP Drafts Short-Term Funding Bill
The Hill reports:
House Republicans are drafting a short-term measure funding government at reduced levels for consideration next week, the latest move in an escalating showdown between the House GOP and the Democratic-led Senate.
House Republicans intend to unveil a resolution later this week that would continue funding the government past March 4, after which the government would run out of money and face a shutdown.Republicans hope to pass the resolution — which will include cuts from current spending at a level that's to be determined — early next week in order to put the onus on the Senate to act or risk a government shutdown.
"If Senator Reid refuses to bring it to a vote, then the House will pass a short-term bill to keep the government running — one that also cuts spending," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "Senator Reid and the Democrats who run Washington should stop creating more uncertainty by spreading fears of a government shutdown and start telling the American people what — if anything — they are willing to cut.”
The maneuver is the latest strike in a back-and-forth Tuesday between House Republicans and the Senate's top Democrat over spending levels and the prospect of a government shutdown.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sparred in a series of statements accusing each other of rooting for a government shutdown.
The two have been mixing it up over spending issues over the last month and a half. But the statements took on a sharper tone Tuesday, with lawmakers on a weeklong recess from which they'll return next week to face a March 4 deadline to reach an agreement on funding the government.
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