Schumer says the House should join the Senate in passing a bill without ACA language. Dems: No Obamacare concessions

There will be no concessions from the Senate on Obamacare to avoid a government shutdown, Democratic leaders said Thursday afternoon.

The Democratic leadership team said time and again Thursday that they will only accept a clean continuing resolution, which is precisely what the Senate is set to send back to the House by Saturday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will strip out Obamacare defunding language passed by the House last week and send the bill back to the House no later than Saturday, though senators are seeking to move even more quickly but have yet to break through on an expedited time agreement.


Reid refused to say whether he would accept a one-week continuing resolution from House members, which could be a last-minute safety valve if the two chambers can’t agree on a longer solution.

“I’m not going to speculate on what they are going to do. We have all made it very clear: We’ll have a clean CR,” Reid said. “Right now, they do not know what they are going to do. They’re throwing all this mud to see what sticks on the wall.”

Speculation has been rampant that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will move to send something different back to the Senate, like a delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate or repeal of the medical device tax. Senate leaders say that’s a one-way road to an Oct. 1 government shutdown, given how slow the upper chamber operates.

“If the House decides over the weekend come Friday, Saturday, whatever it is, that they’re going to give us a new bill to consider in the Senate: That is a concession on their part that we are going to shut down the government. A clean CR is the only way to meet this deadline,” said Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois.

To hear Senate Democrats tell it, Boehner has but two choices: Accept the Senate CR currently under consideration that funds Obamacare on the government or shut down the government on Tuesday. Boehner said Thursday that he didn’t think his chamber would accept the Senate’s amended spending bill, but also not to expect a government shutdown.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Boehner should follow the lead of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) and allow a clean CR to go through. McConnell and Cornyn both will vote against Reid’s effort to strip out the Obamacare defunding provision this week but will oppose an effort led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to block the bill on a procedural vote, which also would stoke shutdown fears.

“If Leader McConnell and Sen. Cornyn can stand up to the hard right with primary challenges nipping at their heels, Speaker Boehner — who’s safe in his seat — ought to be able to do the same thing,” Schumer said.