Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

The Policy Racket

Talk of federal government shutdown cools off

WASHINGTON - With Congress back from vacation and in full session, the accusations of economic irresponsibility are flying, but the countdown to shutdown seems to have slowed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office has tamped down its message on the Republicans’ proposal to extend the federal budget for two weeks -- the latest in a series of counter-proposals aimed at buying lawmakers just a little more time to agree on mutually satisfactory funding levels for the rest of the fiscal year.

Reid’s office had been angling for a 30-day extension of the federal budget, at present funding levels, so when House Republican Speaker John Boehner first announced the House’s counter-offer -- two weeks extended with $4 billion of cuts -- Reid’s office slammed it as an effective Trojan mini-horse, meant to carry through the Republicans’ cuts in pro-rated fashion.

But then the tone changed. On Friday, Reid spokesman Jon Summers said: “We are encouraged to hear that Republicans are abandoning their demands for extreme measures ... and instead moving closer to the Democrats’ position that we should cut government spending in a smart, responsible way.”

Boehner and other Republican leaders had redoubled their public messaging efforts in between to throw the spotlight of blame back onto Democrats -- half of the thrill of a government shutdown is who’s to blame for it, after all -- and explain the details of their proposal, which seem to reflect the sort of cuts President Obama called for anyway.

House and Senate leaders still have four days to iron out their differences -- more than enough time if the two parties are basically in agreement about the sort of cuts that should be part of a short-term continuing resolution.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone is walking away happy.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ leader in the House, doesn’t seem to be warming to the GOP’s proposal.

“This is not a good place to start,” she said Monday.

But as the Minority Leader in the House, Pelosi doesn't wield much influence. The House passed its first fiscal 2011 budget by a simple majority, and so long as the Republican caucus is satisfied, they won't need any Democratic votes to carry a two-week continuing resolution.

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