President Obama vowed Thursday to veto a Republican stopgap budget bill, a move that appeared to bolster a claim by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the government "looks like it's heading" toward a shutdown without a deal on a six-month plan.
The White House issued a statement Thursday afternoon declaring that Obama would veto a GOP proposal to fund the government for one week while negotiations continue on a longer-term plan. Republicans have pitched the bill as the only option for keeping the government open past a Friday deadline, but its policy riders and $12 billion in cuts are not acceptable to Democrats.
"This bill is a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise for funding the remainder of fiscal year 2011," the White House said.
Reid, speaking on the Senate floor Thursday morning, also predicted his chamber would reject Republicans' bill. "It's a fantasy," Reid said. "This is a non-starter in the Senate."
The White House statement reiterated that the president could accept a "clean" short-term bill -- in other words, one that doesn't include so many cuts and doesn't include policy riders. House Democrats are looking to push such a bill later in the day. Obama also plans to meet with Reid and House Speaker John Boehner Thursday afternoon, the third such meeting in three days.
But the options for averting a shutdown appeared to be quickly diminishing, as Republicans stood by their proposal and began to debate it on the floor.
The only other alternative would be to strike a deal funding the government for the rest of the year by Friday. But that would take a breathtaking and unlikely amount of corner-cutting, considering there's only two days left, and Reid said the two sides can't agree on the contents of the package anyway. He slammed Republicans for policy riders targeting the EPA and abortion funding, saying he's much less optimistic about a deal than he was a day earlier.
"The numbers are basically there," Reid said. "The only thing holding up an agreement is ideology."
Lawmakers kicked the fingerpointing into high gear, with a shutdown on the horizon.
Reid preemptively blamed Republicans, saying they wouldn't budge and calling their agenda "extreme." Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell pointed the finger right back, saying the Senate could still avert a shutdown by approving the one-week stopgap House Republicans plan to send over.
"This is the only proposal out there that keeps the government open," McConnell said. "If a shutdown does occur, our Democratic friends have no one to blame but themselves."
"There's no policy reason for the Senate to oppose this bill," Boehner told reporters Thursday. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel also said there's "no agreement" on a number regarding a bill for the rest of the year.
Boehner, in an earlier interview with ABC News' "Good Morning America," said he continues to fight for the largest possible cuts and that there is "no daylight between the Tea Party and me." The Republican stopgap bill would also fund the Pentagon for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.
A few on Capitol Hill showed glimmers of optimism amid the uncertainty.
"How did you do in your brackets, by the way?" House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., asked Thursday before noting he didn't do so well on his college basketball picks. He said he's not going to apply the same approach to the budget.
"I'm not going to make a prediction other than to say we've got a good chance to do it," Dreier told Fox News.
Even if a temporary measure is passed, Congress would be back at the same place a week from now, so the White House is making a renewed push to bring the two sides toward a longer-term compromise.
Obama, after meeting earlier in the week with Reid and Boehner, summoned them again to the White House Wednesday night. They did not reach a deal, but Obama called the discussion "frank" and "constructive."
"If we are serious about getting something done we should be able to complete a deal, get it passed and avert a shutdown," Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room.
House Republicans originally passed a budget cutting $61 billion from last year's spending. Democrats have since proposed cutting $33 billion, and negotiators have recently toyed with the idea of bringing that number toward $40 billion.
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