Government shutdown in budget battle may hinge on clean air, abortion

Last Updated on Thursday, 07 April 2011 12:29 Thursday, 07 April 2011 12:28

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Government shutdown in budget battle may hinge on clean air, abortion

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Reporting from Washington— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats and Republican in Congress have essentially agreed on spending levels for the rest of the year, but a budget deal is being held up by a split over policy measures related to Planned Parenthood funding and clean-air regulation.

Reid said the divisions made him more pessimistic about the chances of passing a compromise deal before a Friday deadline, resulting in a government shutdown.

"It looks like it's heading in that direction," Reid said in remarks on the floor Thursday morning.

The remarks came the morning after Reid, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met for nearly two hours at the White House to hammer out a deal. Reid said congressional and White House staff worked through the night. He did not detail the number of cuts he claimed were settled.

"The numbers are basically there, that's where we are," but other more contentious matters remained unsettled, he said.

The parties will meet again at the White House on Thursday afternoon, 35 hours before government funding runs dry.

House Republicans continued to push for policy measures attached to their initial spending plan, Reid said. Those include a proposal related to funding for Planned Parenthood and a measure that would block the federal government from regulating greenhouse gasses.

"These matters have no place in a budget bill," Reid said. "We should not be distracted by ideology – this is a bill that funds that government."

Wednesday night, Reid and Boehner had appeared together outside the White House and described incremental progress in negotiations. If an agreement is not passed by Friday at midnight, the federal government will begin closing some services and suspending pay to workers.

"We can't solve in one night a disagreement this country's been fighting for four decades," Reid said of the abortion-related issue. "It's not realistic; it's not fair to the American people."

Boehner, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," repeated that he was working to provide the "largest number of spending cuts possible."

"When it comes to an out of control bureaucracy in Washington, we know that that's also getting in the way of creating jobs in America. The EPA's out of control. And the American people do not want taxpayer dollars used to fund elective abortions," he said.

The House will vote Thursday on a one-week continuing resolution that would keep the government running. But Democrats who control the Senate have said they would not consider the measure, which makes $12 billion in new spending reductions.

Source: LA Times

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