Towards government shutdown

House Republicans raise stakes and propose one-year delay of Obamacare

Harry Reid says Senate will reject GOP's latest attempt to delay Obama's health reforms – setting stage for government shutdown

the Guardian,

28 September, 2013

Republicans on Saturday mapped out a collision course towards the first US government shutdown in 17 years, making fresh demands for Barack Obama's heathcare reforms to be postponed that are almost certain to be rejected by Democrats.

With barely 48 hours to go until existing federal government spending authority expires on Monday night, House Republicans agreed to pass a continuing budget resolution until December, but only if Obamacare is delayed for a year and stripped of a key tax on medical devices.

But Senate majority leader Harry Reid issued a statement on Saturday saying his chamber will reject the House Republicans' plan. He said House passage of any attempt to delay the healthcare law woud be pointless.

House Republicans also plan to pass separate legislation ensuring that US troops continue to receive pay during any ensuing shutdown, exempting a politically sensitive area of federal government from the consequences of their high-stakes clash with Obama.

The main spending bill will be put before the full House of Representatives later on Saturday, but with the majority Republican caucus seemingly united in its desire for a showdown over Obamacare, it is now all but certain that the spending resolution will be passed back a second time to the Senate.

The Senate has already rejected one House attempt to link spending authorisation to Obamacare and its Democrat majority leader Harry Reid has pledged to block anything but a "clean" bill.

Obama has accused Republicans of holding the US economy to ransom and has upped his rhetoric in recent days to make it clear he would also veto any resolution that involved Obamacare.

House speaker John Boehner refused to speak to reporters after his meeting with Republicans on Saturday afternoon, although he is expected to begin outlining the plan on the floor of the House.

The last time the US government was deprived of funding in this way was under Bill Clinton in 1995 and 1996, when he clashed with Republican speaker Newt Gringrich.

Under the Anti-Deficiency Act, passed after the American civil war, the federal government is forbidden from incurring costs that have not been explicitly authorised by Congress.

Only staff involved in "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property" are exempt which in practice means many "essential workers" deemed vital to security and law enforcement.

But hundreds of thousands of other federal employes will be "furloughed" or told to stay at home from Tuesday morning if Congress cannot find a way around the growing impasse. Social security and other benefit payments may also be delayed.

In a speech on Friday, Obama warned that active-duty military employees could see their pay disrupted but the Republican plan to exempt US armed forces removes one area of leverage that might have forced conservatives to back down.

Government Shutdown Imminent As Republicans Add "Obamacare-Delay" To Funding Bill

Zero Hedge,

28 September, 2013

It appears investors (CDS markets, VIX, T-Bills anxiety) were on to something as each side in the  looming government shutdown debate seems mired in their own belief that the other has more to lose. House Republicans are aiming to hold a vote today on a bill to extend government funding through December 15th and ensuring the military gets paid on any shutdown, but...

• HOUSE PLAN WOULD DELAY OBAMACARE ONE YEAR, LAWMAKER SAYS

And as the WSJ reports, Harry Reid has already stated that "we are going to accept nothing as it related to Obamacare," before adjourning the Senate until Monday afternoon (narrowing the gap for a shutdown-avoidance vote). The shutdown-blame-game has begun as it seems the ball is back in the Senate's court...

• HOUSE PROPOSAL WOULD FUND GOVERNMENT THROUGH DEC. 15
• HOUSE PLAN WOULD DELAY OBAMACARE ONE YEAR, LAWMAKER SAYS
• BOEHNER SAYS WILL BE `UP TO THE SENATE' TO AVOID SHUTDOWN

Via WSJ,

The strategy keeps House Republicans on a collision course with Senate Democrats. "We are going to accept nothing as it relates to Obamacare,'' Mr. Reid said after the Senate approved its spending plan.

 

...

Senate Majority Leader Mr. Reid on Friday added to the pressure on the House by adjourning the Senate until Monday afternoon, narrowing the window of timefor any last-minute legislative volleys between the cham 

...

"The president is now demanding that we increase the debt limit without engaging in any kind of bipartisan discussions about addressing our spending problem,'' said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.), who gave the address on behalf of Republicans. "He wants to take the easy way out - exactly the kind of foolishness that got us here in the first place."

 

...If the House acts today and sends the measure to the Senate, fresh pressure will fall on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) to call the Senate back in session quickly. Mr. Reid said Friday that the Senate would accept no changes or amendments to the funding bill it approved on Friday. He scheduled the Senate to return Monday afternoon, hard upon the Monday midnight deadline for Congress to come to agreement on a funding plan.

 

 ...The standoff brings the federal government to the brink of a shutdown with little obvious room for resolution. Unlike in previous showdowns, there have been no major negotiations among congressional leaders or with the White House.
...

Mr. Boehner, said: "The House will take action that reflects the fundamental fact that Americans don't want a government shutdown, and they don't want the train wreck that is Obamacare.''

 

If no agreement is reached by midnight Monday, federal agencies will have to stop providing many services and furlough many employees. Services and agency functions deemed essential would continue.

 

If House lawmakers alter the Senate's spending bill, the measure will return to the Senate, where legislation can take days to navigate over procedural hurdles.