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| Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, gets into an elevator following a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. President Barack Obama is making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Officials say House Republican leaders are considering a
short-term increase in the nation's debt limit as one way out of an
impasse that threatens the nation with an unprecedented financial
default.
These officials say there is less
urgency among GOP leaders about ending a partial shutdown of the
government, now in its ninth day.
They
declined to say what conditions, if any, might be attached to a bill to
raise the debt limit for an undetermined period, perhaps a few weeks or
two months.
President Barack Obama has said he
won't agree to sign a debt limit increase if conditions are attached,
but Republicans are demanding as yet-unspecified concessions.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose details of private deliberations.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Its
approval ratings scraping bottom, Congress took no discernible steps
Wednesday to end the nine-day partial government shutdown or to head off
a threatened default by the national Treasury.
Instead,
the House passed legislation that the Obama administration already had
rendered unnecessary, while Speaker John Boehner and Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi met face-to-face - and promptly disagreed even about which
side had requested the get-together.
Across
the Capitol, the Senate marked time under 18th century rules, focusing
its attention on a test vote - next weekend - on a $1 trillion increase
in the debt limit to avert a default.
"Enough
is enough," said Barry Black, the Senate chaplain who has delivered a
series of pointed sermonettes in recent days as lawmakers careen from
crisis to crisis.
Evidently not.
With
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on tap to testify before lawmakers on
Thursday, officials said he was expected to reiterate that Congress
needed to raise the government's borrowing limit by Oct. 17 to be sure
of preventing default.
Despite warnings from
leaders of both political parties that a financial default could plunge
the economy into recession, cause interest rates to rise and home values
to plummet, one Republican lawmaker, Rep. Mo Brooks of Ala., said a
default wouldn't be the worst calamity to befall the country.
"Insolvency
and bankruptcy" would be worse, he said, warning that that would be the
result of yet another increase in the debt limit without attaching
measures to bring down the federal budget deficit.
The
partial shutdown ground on, although an Associated Press-GfK poll
suggested the impact was anything but uniform. Only 17 percent of those
polled said they or their households had experienced any impact, while
81 percent said they had not.
Who's fault?
Some 62 percent said Republicans were mostly or entirely to blame for
the partial shutdown, which began on Oct. 8, while 49 percent said as
much for President Barack Obama.
There was widespread agreement on one point. The country is widely dissatisfied with elected lawmakers.
A
new Gallup poll put approval for Congress at 11 percent, a mere one in
every nine adults. The AP-GfK survey made it 5 percent approval - and
only 3 percent among independents, whose votes are the main prize in
next fall's midterm elections. Nationally, a whopping 83 percent of
adults disapprove of Congress' actions.
Inside the Capitol, neither private meetings nor public votes offered any hint of progress toward ending the latest gridlock.
Republicans
are seeking negotiations on budget, health care and other issues as the
price for reopening the government and raising the debt limit. Obama
and Democrats say no talks unless legislation is first passed.
The
House voted 252-172 to reopen the Federal Aviation Administration.
Democrats generally opposed the measure and the White House issued a
veto threat, saying the government should be reopened all at once, not
on a piecemeal basis.
There was a brief moment
of unity when the House voted 425-0 to let the Pentagon pay death
benefits to the families of fallen U.S. troops.
That
was the topic that drew Black's attention in his daily prayer at the
opening of the Senate's session. "When our federal shutdown delays
payments of death benefits to families of children dying in faraway
battlefields, it's time for our lawmakers to say, `Enough is enough," he
said.
Controversy accompanied the subject.
Republicans
said Congress had passed and Obama had signed legislation last week to
permit the payments, but the Defense Department said otherwise. As
Republican leaders were pushing toward a vote on the bill making it
explicit, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a charity would pick
up the death benefit costs instead.
In a
delicate minuet, Pentagon officials said they were not permitted to
solicit the funds, but could accept an offer if one were made unbidden.
That eased the pressure on Senate Democrats and the White House, who
have generally refused to support measures to ease the impact of the
partial shutdown without ending the disruption entirely.
In the House, Speaker Boehner of Ohio sat down with the Democratic leader, Pelosi of California, and their seconds-in-command.
Michael
Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said, "Reps. Pelosi and Hoyer (Rep.
Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat) asked for the meeting, and as
we've stated publicly, we're willing to meet with any Democratic leader
who is willing to talk."
Pelosi issued a statement saying, "Yesterday, when I was asked by the Speaker to meet today. ..."
Not surprisingly, perhaps, neither side reported any progress toward compromise after the 45-minute session.
There was more snarling about a White House invitation to House Republicans for a meeting on Thursday.
All
232 House GOP lawmakers were invited, yet Republicans said only 18
would attend, a delegation comprised of members of the leadership and
committee heads.
Speaking on behalf of the commander in chief, White House press secretary Jay Carney seemed less than pleased.
"President Obama is disappointed that Speaker Boehner is preventing his members from coming to the White House," he said.
Even the Democrats, generally united, had trouble getting along.
Senate Democrats used the Senate steps as a backdrop to pressure Republicans to end the partial shutdown.
But
Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray, a Democrat, was off-message. He
urged Democrats at least to pass legislation allowing the city to use
its own tax receipts during the partial shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered some advice to His Honor.
"I'm on your side. Don't screw it up, OK?" he was overheard saying.
