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| Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, returns to his office after a procedural vote on the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 30, 2013. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money. President Barack Obama ramped up pressure on Republicans Monday to avoid a post-midnight government shutdown, saying that failure to pass a short-term spending measure to keep agencies operating would "throw a wrench into the gears" of a recovering economy. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- A threatened government shutdown imminent, House Republicans
scaled back their demands to delay the nation's health care law Monday
night as the price for essential federal funding, but President Barack
Obama and Democrats rejected the proposals as quickly as they were made.
"We're at the brink," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
On
a long day and night in the Capitol, the Senate torpedoed one GOP
attempt to tie government financing to changes in "Obamacare." House
Republicans countered with a second despite unmistakable signs their
unity was fraying - and Senate Democrats stood by to reject it, as well.
The
stock market dropped on fears that political gridlock between the White
House and a tea party-heavy Republican Party would prevail, though
analysts suggested significant damage to the national economy was
unlikely unless a shutdown lasted more than a few days.
Still,
a shutdown would send hundreds of thousands of workers home and
inconvenience millions of people who rely on federal services or are
drawn to the nation's parks and other attractions. Some critical parts
of the government - from the military to air traffic controllers - would
remain open.
As lawmakers squabbled,
President Barack Obama spoke bluntly about House Republicans. "You don't
get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you're
supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there's a law there that
you don't like," he said. Speaking of the health care law that
undergoes a major expansion on Tuesday, he said emphatically, "That
funding is already in place. You can't shut it down."
House
Speaker John Boehner responded a few hours later on the House floor.
"The American people don't want a shutdown and neither do I," he said.
Yet, he added, the new health care law "is having a devastating impact.
... Something has to be done."
For all the
Republican defiance, it appeared that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
and fellow Democrats had the upper hand in the fast-approaching end
game, and that Republicans might soon have to decide whether to allow
the government to remain open - or come away empty-handed from a
bruising struggle with Obama.
Some Republicans balked, moderates and conservatives alike.
Rep.
Phil Gingrey of Georgia said it felt as if Republicans were retreating,
given their diminishing demands, and Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia said
there was not unanimity when the rank and file met to discuss a next
move.
Yet for the first time since the
showdown began more than a week ago, there was also public dissent from
the Republican strategy that has been carried out at the insistence of
lawmakers working in tandem with GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Rep.
Charles Dent, R-Pa., said he was willing to vote for stand-alone
legislation that would keep the government running and contained no
health care-related provisions. "I would be supportive of it, and I
believe the votes are there in the House to pass it at that point," the
fifth-term congressman said.
Other Republicans
sought to blame Democrats for any shutdown, but Dent conceded that
Republicans would bear the blame, whether or not they deserved it.
Hours
before the possible shutdown, the Senate voted 54-46 to reject the
House-passed measure that would have kept the government open but would
have delayed implementation of the health care law for a year and
permanently repealed a medical device tax that helps finance it.
In
response, House Republicans sought different concessions in exchange
for allowing the government to remain open. They called for a one-year
delay in a requirement in the health care law for individuals to
purchase coverage. The same measure also would require members of
Congress and their aides as well as the president, vice president and
the administration's political appointees to bear the full cost of their
own coverage by barring the government from making the customary
employer contribution.
"This is a matter of
funding the government and providing fairness to the American people,"
said Boehner.
"Why wouldn't members of Congress vote for it?"
The vote was 228-201, with a dozen Republicans opposed and nine Democrats in favor.
Unimpressed, the White House issued a veto threat against the bill and Democrats said they would sweep it aside in the Senate.
Obama
followed up his public remarks with phone calls to Boehner and the
three other top leaders of Congress, telling Republicans he would
continue to oppose attempts to delay or cut federal financing of the
health care law.
Boehner spokesman Brendan
Buck said the House's top Republican told the president that the health
care law was costing jobs and that it was unfair that businesses were
getting exemptions but American families were not.
The impact of a shutdown would be felt unevenly.
Many
low-to-moderate-income borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking
government-backed mortgages could face delays, and Obama said veterans'
centers would be closed.
About 800,000 federal
workers, many already reeling from the effect of automatic budget cuts,
would be ordered to report to work Tuesday for about four hours - but
only to carry out shutdown-related chores such as changing office
voicemail messages and completing time cards.
Some
critical services such as patrolling the borders and inspecting meat
would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent, and the Medicare
and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would
continue to pay doctors and hospitals.
U.S.
troops were shielded from any damage to their wallets when the Senate
approved legislation assuring the military would be paid in the in the
event of a shutdown. The House passed the bill early Sunday morning.
That had no impact on those who labor at other agencies.
"I
know some other employees, if you don't have money saved, it's going to
be difficult," said Thelma Manley, who has spent seven years as a staff
assistant with the Internal Revenue Service during a 30-year career in
government.
As for herself, she said, "I'm a
Christian, I trust in God wholeheartedly and my needs will be met." She
added, "I do have savings, so I can go to the reserve, so to speak."
The
last time the government shut down, in 1996, Republicans suffered
significant political damage, and then-President Bill Clinton's
political fortunes were revived in the process.
Now,
as then, Republicans control the House, and senior lawmakers insist
even a shutdown isn't likely to threaten their majority in the 2014
elections. "We may even gain seats," Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs
the party campaign committee, said recently.
For
all the controversy about other matters, the legislation in question is
a spending bill - and there was little if any disagreement about the
spending-related issues.
The House and Senate
have agreed to fix spending for a wide swath of federal programs at an
annual level of $986 billion for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, the
same as for the 12 months just ending.
Without
separate legislation to make further reductions, across-the-board cuts
would automatically take effect early next year that would reduce the
level to $967 billion.
