Shutdown Impasse Lingers After White House Meeting
The House passed a series of small appropriations bills on Oct. 2 that provides funding for the National Institutes of Health, the National Park Service and the District of Columbia, among other areas of government. The administration previously rejected the legislation and Senate Democrats are expected to vote down the measures (see 13100212). But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged (here) the Senate to adopt the legislation in an Oct. 3 press release.
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“So I really hope my friends across the aisle will reflect on the efforts of Republicans in the House -- and allow the Senate to quickly vote on all the bills the House sent us last night, so we can get the government reopened as soon as possible,” said McConnell, noting lack of progress between congressional leadership and President Barack Obama during a meeting at the White House on Oct. 2. “That said, yesterday’s meeting at the White House wasn’t particularly encouraging.” Recent efforts to combine the Fiscal Year 2014 continuing resolution and debt ceiling debates should cease, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., following the White House meeting (here). That combination increases the likelihood of failure on both issues and such a prospect would be “beyond cataclysmic” she said. The administration rejected negotiations on both fronts, according to press release (here). “The President made clear to the leaders that he is not going to negotiate over the need for Congress to act to reopen the government or to raise the debt limit to pay the bills Congress has already incurred.”