House Republicans are working on a plan, slated for a vote next week, that would attach cuts to a bill funding the government through mid-March. That was immediately rejected by Senate Democrats, who are demanding a 30-day extension that would keep budgets at their current levels.
Lawmakers, who return to Washington next week from their Presidents Day recess, will have just days to find agreement, because the spending measure now keeping agencies in business expires March 4. Without agreement, the government will shut down.
“Americans understand we need to stop the spending binge in Washington to create a better environment for job creation,” said House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. “So I ask Senator Reid, with all due respect: what are you willing to cut?”
Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, called the proposal a “non-starter” because it would amount to phasing in the $61 billion in budget cuts passed last week by the House.
“This isn’t a compromise,” said Summers. “This bill would simply be a two-week version of the reckless measure the House passed last weekend. It would impose the same spending levels in the short term as their initial proposal does in the long term, and it isn’t going to fool anyone.”
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