No sooner had the Senate agreed to a two-week spending resolution to cut federal spending by $4 billion and avert a government shutdown, than the finger-pointing started up again.
Both parties seem to agree on the need to negotiate a long-term resolution that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year (September 30). But each side believes the ball is in the others’ court in terms of how negotiations should proceed.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announced following the vote that the White House was prepared to let Vice President Joe Biden lead these negotiations and said Republicans “should immediately come to the table.”
“If Republicans are serious about negotiating a responsible compromise, they have a responsibility to work with us,” Reid said.
Republicans, however, didn’t quite see it that way. They point out that the GOP already has a long-term spending proposal (H.R. 1), which would cut federal spending by $61 billion over seven months. House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said it was now up to Democrats to produce one of their own.
“Passing the short-term bill gives Senate Democrats two more weeks to either consider H.R. 1 or outline their own plan for how we move ahead,” Boehner said at a press conference following the vote. “Americans have the right to know [how] Senate Democrats plan to cut spending and fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year — we’re waiting for them.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Republicans had only just been informed about the White House offer to lead bipartisan talks and would have to hear what they have to say, but also reiterated Boehner’s message. “Where is the Senate Democratic proposal?” he asked.
Boehner pointed out that Republicans and Democrats have already been in discussion for several weeks and suggested that Democrats would have to put forward a clear long-term proposal before legitimate negotiations could continue. At the moment, he said, Republicans had “no clue” where the other side stands on spending cuts. “The House’s position is: We’ve passed a bill, it’s out there,” Boehner said. “I think it’s time for [Democrats] to outline for us what is their position to keep the government funded. We’ve done our work in the House.”
“Where’s the starting point?” he asked. “If we want to start with H.R. 1, that would be fine with me.”
Of course, Democrats have made clear that H.R. 1, with it’s $61 billion in spending cuts, is “unacceptable” and would destroy the economy (Mark Zandi said so!). And Reid dismissed GOP criticism about the Democrats’ lack of a clear plan as “shallow” and “foolish,” insisting that discussion take place behind close doors. “That’s what negotiations are all about,” he said. “I’m not going to negotiate [in public].”
Interestingly, Reid said that “everything is on the table” when it comes to the White House–led negotiations, including issues surrounding the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget, even entitlement reform. But he refused to elaborate.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said any final compromise on spending cuts would likely fall somewhere between $41 billion (which Democrats falsely claim credit for already having cut in the current CR) and $100 billion (the amount Republicans propose to cut). Both of those numbers are based off President Obama’s (never-enacted) spending request for 2011. “We know that the final outcome will lie somewhere in between the 41 and 100,” he said.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), when pressed on why Democrats had not put forward a concrete plan, would only say that “we have some ideas” and that secret negotiations were necessary because of a hyper-partisan political environment. “The honest answer is we’ve reached a point now where things are so political and so complex that we have to sit down for these mega-meeting to try to put it all on the table and resolve it,” Durbin said.
However, just moments later, and without a hint of irony, he added: “If this government shuts down because John Boehner says two weeks or else, I don’t think it reflects very positively on him.”
Boehner has repeatedly made clear that the GOP does not wish to shut down the government because “it’s not what the American people want us to do,” and despite Democratic claims to the contrary, has insisted that Republicans do not favor a series of short-term spending resolutions.
“All of us want to fund the government through September 30,” Boehner said. “Our team wants to cut spending in a real way, and it’s time to get to work.”
“If you give congress four weeks, guess what? They’ll take four weeks. Give them six weeks, they’ll take six weeks. We’ve got two weeks, let’s get the job done.”