Jonathan Strong and I report on the looming shutdown:
The defiant positioning by conservatives puts Boehner in a difficult situation: He wants to pass another CR that wins the support of a majority of his conference, but there’s nothing in his arsenal that is guaranteed heavy GOP support. His hope of getting 218 Republicans behind a revised CR before a shutdown occurs is dimming by the hour. And if he can’t broker a deal by late Monday, a shutdown will be unavoidable.
Large numbers of House Republicans, while not exactly rooting for a shutdown, certainly feel comfortable with the idea of stopping Obamacare at all costs. “I feel like it’s my duty as a congressman to mitigate the damage that Obamacare is doing to the country,” says Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas. “I’m going to do what my heart tells me is the right thing to do. And I think my constituents in South Texas are behind me.”
There’s more on the home page.