A House Republican effort to move a bill to reopen government and avert an impending default collapsed late Tuesday when it became apparent that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, did not have the votes to pass it.
The lack of any concrete plan in either chamber, divisions within the GOP, and the complexity of Senate rules pose many complications towards finding a budget compromise that can pass by Oct. 17, the deadline by which the Treasury has said it will no longer be able to meet all of its financial obligations on time.
Fitch Ratings announced Tuesday that it has put the U.S. Treasury bonds on watch for a potential downgrade if the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling is not raised.
The decision to pull the proposal ended a furious day of negotiations among House Republicans eager to find an alternative to a competing proposal being crafted in the Senate because it did not go far enough to rein in President Obama’s health care law.
The House effort, first announced Tuesday morning, put the brakes on the bipartisan Senate talks sparking a quick and angry response from Senate Democrats and the White House. By Tuesday evening, however, House Republican leaders said they would not vote on the bill as scheduled.
The House was aiming for a package that included a short-term stopgap funding bill through Dec. 15, a suspension of the debt limit until Feb. 7, and the elimination of a subsidy that helps members of Congress, their staffs, and White House employees buy insurance in the new health care system.
The partial government shutdown, in its 15th day, began when House Republicans refused to advance a stopgap funding bill unless it included provisions to delay or defund the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Information from USA Today and The Associated Press contributed to this report.