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Lawmakers, Amid Government Standstill, Try to Keep Dialogue Going Impasse Grinding On as Negotiations Over a Fiscal Deal Break Down
(35 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — Budget negotiations broke down on Saturday — just days before the nation reaches its borrowing limit — as angry Republicans said that President Obama had rejected their latest offer.WASHINGTON — Budget negotiations broke down on Saturday — just days before the nation reaches its borrowing limit — as angry Republicans said that President Obama had rejected their latest offer.
“It’s now up to the Senate Republicans to stand up,” said Representative Raul R. Labrador of Idaho after House Republicans left a closed-door meeting in the Capitol. “It’s now up to the Senate Republicans to stand up,” said Representative Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho after House Republicans left a closed-door meeting in the Capitol.
The message from Speaker John A. Boehner had been grim, Republicans said. John Carter described Mr. Obama as “acting like a royal president.” The message from Speaker John A. Boehner had been grim, Republicans said. Representative John Carter of Texas described Mr. Obama as “acting like a royal president.”
“He’s still my way or the highway,” Mr. Carter said. “He’s still ‘my way or the highway,’ ” Mr. Carter said.
With House Republicans insisting that they have all but run out of options, attention now turns to the Senate, where Republicans have spent the past several days trying to gin up Democratic support for a proposal that they hope could reopen the government and extend the debt-ceiling through the end of January. With House Republicans insisted that they have all but run out of options, and the House is now not scheduled to meet again until Monday. Attention now turns to the Senate, where Republicans have spent the past several days trying to gin up Democratic support for a proposal that they hope could reopen the government and extend the debt-ceiling through the end of January.
"The question is: What will Senate Republicans do, what will Senate Democrats do?” said Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois."The question is: What will Senate Republicans do, what will Senate Democrats do?” said Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois.
Though House Republicans — especially the more hard-line conservatives — remain reluctant to accept any proposal that comes out of the Democratic-controlled Senate, even if it has substantial Republican-backing, the question now facing Mr. Boehner is whether he will be forced to put any Senate-offering on the House floor for a vote.Though House Republicans — especially the more hard-line conservatives — remain reluctant to accept any proposal that comes out of the Democratic-controlled Senate, even if it has substantial Republican-backing, the question now facing Mr. Boehner is whether he will be forced to put any Senate-offering on the House floor for a vote.
With concern growing that global financial markets could be thrown into turmoil if Congress does not agree to raise the debt ceiling by Thursday, Republicans said they did not know whether Mr. Boehner would have enough support from his most conservative members to put a plan that passes the Senate up for a vote.With concern growing that global financial markets could be thrown into turmoil if Congress does not agree to raise the debt ceiling by Thursday, Republicans said they did not know whether Mr. Boehner would have enough support from his most conservative members to put a plan that passes the Senate up for a vote.
Many Republicans said that however frustrated they were that the White House would not negotiate with them, they were just as dismayed with many of their own House colleagues, who would not back down from their demands that any deal include provisions to chip away at the president’s health care law. Many Republicans said that however frustrated they were that the White House would not negotiate with them, they were just as dismayed with many of their own colleagues would not back down from their demand that any deal include provisions to chip away at the president’s health care law.
“The problem here is that we don’t have a functioning majority,” said Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican. “After three weeks of this, they're still not figuring it out. I don't know what it takes.” “The problem here is that we don’t have a functioning majority,” said Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican. “After three weeks of this, they’re still not figuring it out. I don’t know what it takes.”
The proposal House Republican presented to the White House late last week called for increasing the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money through Nov. 22, but only if Mr. Obama agreed to more expansive talks about overhauling the budget.The proposal House Republican presented to the White House late last week called for increasing the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money through Nov. 22, but only if Mr. Obama agreed to more expansive talks about overhauling the budget.
But breakdown in talks with the White House going into the weekend further soured an already tense relationship between House Republicans and the president.  Representative Aaron Schock, Republican of Illinois, called the development “a total breakdown in trust.” The collapse of talks with the White House further soured an already tense relationship between House Republicans and the president.  Representative Aaron Schock, Republican of Illinois, called the development “a total breakdown in trust.”
“You don’t tell the speaker, the majority leader, the majority whip,  ‘We’re going to negotiate.’ Then they come and tell our entire conference, ‘We’re going to negotiate,’” he said. “And then 24-hours later, you recant.” “You don’t tell the speaker, the majority leader, the majority whip  ‘we’re going to negotiate,’ then they come and tell our entire conference ‘we’re going to negotiate and then 24 hours later, you recant,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate was preparing to open debate on Saturday on a Democratic proposal that would extend the debt ceiling through the end of 2014, with no strings attached. The plan appeared to lack enough Republican votes to pass, but was intended to pressure Republicans to take action to avert what could be a staggering fiscal crisis if the government defaults on its debts.
Despite the expected failure of the Senate Democrats’ proposal, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, could execute a procedural maneuver known as a motion to recommit that would allow him to bring the plan to a vote again.
Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, were also working to nail down the details of their own proposal, which would extend the debt ceiling through the end of January and include a stopgap spending measure to reopen the government and finance it through the end of March.
The 23-page plan would simultaneously call for an immediate bipartisan conference of members of the House and the Senate to address broader budget concerns. Republicans hoped the conference would consider some of the cuts to social programs — like means-testing for Medicare benefits — that Mr. Obama has previously suggested could be options.
The proposal would also call for a two-year delay of a tax on medical devices unpopular with some Democrats, and would give government agencies more flexibility on how to carry out the existing across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.
When Ms. Collins presented a similar proposal to the president during a meeting on Friday, Mr. Obama called it “constructive.”
But some House Republicans remained skeptical that any Senate plan could pass muster in the Republican-controlled House. Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said the Republican conference remained “very united” and was unlikely to cede any ground as long as Mr. Obama continued to treat the standoff as “still a game.”
“Senate Republicans don’t run the Senate,” Mr. Massie said. “ So we’re not taking our lead from them.”
Similarly, other Republican legislators said they found the six-month stopgap measure to fund the government being considered in Senate ultimately unacceptable: “That ain’t going to pass in the House,” Mr. Schock said. “It’s just too long.”
Senate Democrats have expressed confidence that they hold the upper hand in the showdown with Republicans, whose poll numbers are falling. But there was some unease, especially from Mr. Reid, that the president could agree to a deal that offered too many concessions to the Republicans.
On Saturday, Mr. Reid warned that time was running out. “Each hour that goes by we're closer to a calamity for our country,” he said.
The Republicans had proposed increasing the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money through Nov. 22, but only if Mr. Obama agreed to more expansive talks about overhauling the budget.The Republicans had proposed increasing the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money through Nov. 22, but only if Mr. Obama agreed to more expansive talks about overhauling the budget.
The Senate was expected to open debate on Saturday on a Democratic proposal that would extend the debt ceiling through the end of 2014, with no strings attached. The plan appeared to lack enough Republican votes to pass, but was intended to pressure Republicans to take action to avert what could be a staggering fiscal crisis if the government defaults on its debts.The Senate was expected to open debate on Saturday on a Democratic proposal that would extend the debt ceiling through the end of 2014, with no strings attached. The plan appeared to lack enough Republican votes to pass, but was intended to pressure Republicans to take action to avert what could be a staggering fiscal crisis if the government defaults on its debts.
Despite the expected failure of the Senate Democrats’ proposal, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, could execute a procedural maneuver known as a motion to recommit that would allow him to bring the plan to a vote again.Despite the expected failure of the Senate Democrats’ proposal, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, could execute a procedural maneuver known as a motion to recommit that would allow him to bring the plan to a vote again.
Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, were also working to nail down the details of their own plan, which would extend the debt ceiling through the end of January and include a stopgap spending measure to reopen the government and finance it through the end of March.Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, were also working to nail down the details of their own plan, which would extend the debt ceiling through the end of January and include a stopgap spending measure to reopen the government and finance it through the end of March.
The proposal would simultaneously call for an immediate bipartisan conference of members of the House and the Senate to address broader budget concerns. Republicans hoped the conference would consider some of the cuts to social programs — like means-testing for Medicare benefits — that Mr. Obama has suggested could be options. The 23-page plan would simultaneously call for an immediate bipartisan conference of members of the House and the Senate to address broader budget concerns. Republicans hoped the conference would consider some of the cuts to social programs — like means-testing for Medicare benefits — that Mr. Obama has suggested could be options.
The plan would also call for a delay, or at least an easing, of a tax on medical devices unpopular with some Democrats, and would give government agencies more flexibility on how to carry out the existing across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.The plan would also call for a delay, or at least an easing, of a tax on medical devices unpopular with some Democrats, and would give government agencies more flexibility on how to carry out the existing across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.
When Ms. Collins presented a similar proposal to the president during a meeting on Friday, Mr. Obama called it “constructive.”When Ms. Collins presented a similar proposal to the president during a meeting on Friday, Mr. Obama called it “constructive.”
Senate Democrats have expressed confidence that they hold the upper hand in the showdown with Republicans, whose poll numbers are falling. But there was some unease, especially from Mr. Reid, that the president could agree to a deal that offered too many concessions to the Republicans. But some House Republicans remained skeptical that any Senate plan could pass muster in the Republican-controlled House. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said the Republican conference remained “very united” and was unlikely to cede any ground as long as Mr. Obama continued to treat the standoff as “still a game.”
But many conservative activists say that Congressional Republicans have already ceded too much in a fight that began as a battle to defund the president’s health care law. With most big proposed changes to the law, the Affordable Care Act, now off the table, the Heritage Foundation posted a blog on Friday that said any deal that did not deny financing to the health care law or delay it “may be a political win inside the Beltway but a loss for the American people.” Mr. Reid warned that time was running out. “Each hour that goes by we’re closer to a calamity for our country,” he said.
“This debate has never been about satisfying one political party or another,” read the blog post. “It’s been about common-sense solutions that protect the American people from Obamacare.”
Any Senate plan is likely to meet resistance in the Republican-controlled House. Representative Charlie Dent, a Republican who represents a swing district in Pennsylvania, said Ms. Collins’s plan closely followed a similar proposal he and Representative Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, offered in the House. But he said he expected the Collins proposal would be a tough sell to members of both the far right and the far left.
“Some of them won’t like it, obviously, because it doesn’t repeal or defund Obamacare,” Mr. Dent said, referring to his party’s more conservative members. “I’m sure some on the far left aren’t going to like it either, because it does make a change to Obamacare.”
In his weekly address, Mr. Obama called the efforts of House Republicans to end the standoff “a positive development,” adding that “there is no good reason anyone should keep suffering through this shutdown.”
“Once the debt ceiling is raised, and the shutdown is over, there’s a lot we can accomplish together,” Mr. Obama said.
In the Republican response, Representative Howard P. McKeon, the California Republican who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the meeting at the White House had been positive. Mr. McKeon said the two parties had agreed on some funding programs during the shutdown, and he urged Democrats to sit down with Republicans and reach a compromise.