House GOP pulls bill on shutdown; Senate talks resume

Susan Davis and Gregory Korte | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Shutdown deal back in limbo A House Republican effort to move a bill to reopen government and avert an impending default collapsed late Tuesday, bringing the burden back on the Senate to reach a compromise.

Senate suspended work on a bipartisan deal to see what the House could approve

There is no concrete plan in either chamber to reopen government

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again expresses optimism about a Senate deal

WASHINGTON — A House Republican effort to move a bill to reopen government and avert an impending default collapsed late Tuesday when it became apparent that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, did not have the votes to pass it.

The lack of any concrete plan in either chamber, divisions within the GOP, and the complexity of Senate rules pose many complications towards finding a budget compromise that can pass by Oct. 17, the deadline by which the Treasury has said it will no longer be able to meet all of its financial obligations on time.

The burden to reach compromise again shifted to the Senate. Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that the House failure reignited stalled Senate talks late Tuesday and that leaders "are optimistic that an agreement is within reach."

Fitch Ratings announced Tuesday that it has put the U.S. Treasury bonds on watch for a potential downgrade if the nation's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling is not raised.

The decision to pull the proposal ended a furious day of negotiations among House Republicans eager to find an alternative to a competing proposal being crafted in the Senate because it did not go far enough to rein in President Obama's health care law.

The House effort, first announced Tuesday morning, put the brakes on the bipartisan Senate talks sparking a quick and angry response from Senate Democrats and the White House. By Tuesday evening, however, House Republican leaders said they would not vote on the bill as scheduled.

The House was aiming for a package that included a short-term stopgap funding bill through Dec. 15, a suspension of the debt limit until Feb. 7, and the elimination of a subsidy that helps members of Congress, their staffs, and White House employees buy insurance in the new health care system.

Heritage Action, an outside conservative activist group, announced opposition to the House proposal because it "will do nothing to stop Obamacare's massive new entitlements from taking root."

House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said the vote had been canceled following a leadership meeting in Boehner's office. "We are going to be prepared (Wednesday) to make some decisions," he said.

"We are very cognizant of the calendar," said House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. "We want to find a solution that gets us moving forward and America back working again."

The partial government shutdown, in its 15th day, began when House Republicans refused to advance a stopgap funding bill unless it included provisions to delay or defund the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The Senate proposal that was under consideration would fund government through Jan. 15, suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7 and create the framework for formal budget negotiations to conclude by Dec. 15 with long-term recommendations for funding levels and deficit reduction. The Senate plan did not include any significant changes to the Obama health care law.

President Obama told WABC-TV of New York City that "the House Republicans still believe that they can get concessions for doing their job ... we'll see how that plays itself out." Citing the Senate efforts, Obama said that "my expectation is it does get solved - but we don't have a lot of time."

House Republicans initially included on Tuesday a provision for a two-year delay of a 2.3% medical device tax but removed it. They also initially limited the ban on health care subsidies to lawmakers, the president, vice president and Cabinet officials, but later expanded it to include staff. But the Tea Party-inspired wing of the GOP complained the bill still did not go far enough to roll back the health care law.

House Democrats opposed the House outline. "The bill that they are talking about is a bill to default," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after a White House meeting Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that he felt "blindsided" by the House's new effort, which he called a "blatant attack on bipartisanship" with no chance of Senate passage.

Reid told Democrats at their weekly lunch meeting that Boehner's decision prompted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to stand down in the Senate talks to give House Republicans room to maneuver.

"Apparently it's all fallen apart," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., adding Democrats were "stunned by the reaction in the House," and "at this point, there's nothing that's real. Apparently there is no agreement."

The White House also criticized the House plan. "The president has said repeatedly that members of Congress don't get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation's bills," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said. "Unfortunately, the latest proposal from House Republicans does just that in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place."

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said he remained skeptical that the deadline to extend the debt limit is Thursday. "I don't know what deadline is Thursday," he said, saying the date was "artificially created by the administration."

He said, "This didn't come down on tablets. It's not statute. It's not legislation."

Contributing: David Jackson

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