Senate leaders said Monday they are close to an agreement to reopen government and avoid an unprecedented U.S. debt default before the Thursday deadline.
A flurry of negotiations occurred throughout the day as Reid and his Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, engaged with each other, their own members, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and White House staff on the terms of a deal to end the budget impasse, which has kept the government partially shutdown since Oct. 1.
The draft proposal still under negotiation would approve a stopgap funding bill to reopen government through Jan. 15; suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7; and create the framework for formal budget negotiations to conclude by Dec. 15 with long-term recommendations for funding levels and deficit reduction.
The proposal does not include any significant reforms to the Affordable Care Act, which is what House Republicans were originally seeking in the budget stand-off. House Republicans initially refused to approve a stopgap spending bill unless it delayed or defunded President Obama’s signature health care law.
Congressional leaders had planned a mid-afternoon meeting with Obama at the White House on Monday, but it was postponed so that the Senate could continue negotiations. Instead, White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors came to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers.
Obama on Monday visited Martha’s Table, which serves low-income families in Washington, where he spoke with furloughed federal workers affected by the shutdown who have volunteered at the food bank.
Obama denounced what he called Republican “brinkmanship.”
“There are going to be differences between the parties,” Obama said. “There are going to be differences in terms of budget priorities, but we don’t need to inflict pain on the American people, or risk the possibility of America’s full faith and credit being damaged just because one side is not getting its way.”
Information from The Associated Press and USA Today contributed to this report.