AP
House Republican leadership was scrambling Tuesday afternoon to put together a plan that could earn enough conservative support while reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling.
Earlier in the day, House conservatives signaled their disapproval of a possible Senate deal that would reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, providing expected complications just two days ahead of a Thursday deadline to raise the nation's borrowing limit.
Leadership went ahead with plans to move its own bill. It's not clear if Republican leadership has enough votes for its plan.
Meanwhile, Senate negotiations between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have stalled while McConnell waits to see if the House can pass its bill.
The details of the House plan have changed significantly since the morning. Originally, the plan was to fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling through Feb. 7. According to National Review's Robert Costa, the bill would now only fund the government through Dec. 15.
It also originally included three Affordable Care Act-related provisions — a two-year delay of the tax on medical devices, an income-verification process for people applying for subsidies, and a version of the "Vitter amendment" that would bar just lawmakers (not congressional and White House staff) from receiving subsidies for federal health insurance under Obamacare.
One of those — the medical-device tax — has been stripped from the bill. Another — the Vitter amendment — has been altered back to its original version, which bars staffers from receiving subsidies.
House Speaker John Boehner said at a press conference Tuesday morning that "there have been no decisions about what exactly we will do."
"We are talking with our members on both sides of the aisle to try to find a way to move forward today," Boehner said. Later, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters in a press conference that Boehner doesn't have the votes for the plan.
The White House blasted the reported original plan in a statement late Tuesday morning, saying it was a "ransom" designed to "appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place."
"The president has said repeatedly that members of Congress don't get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation's bills," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said in the statement.
On the Senate floor Thursday morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the new House proposal "blindsided" him and others in the Senate negotiations.
"I'm very disappointed with John Boehner, who would once again try to preserve his role at the expense of this country," Reid said.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel responded to Reid's comments minutes later, saying that he is "so blinded by partisanship that he is willing to risk default on our debt to protect a 'pacemaker tax.'"
President Obama is meeting with House Democratic leaders on Tuesday afternoon, the White House said.
Before they walked into the 9 a.m. House Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning, House conservatives complained to Costa. One Tea Party congressman called the Senate plan a "mushy piece of s—." Another said that if House Speaker John Boehner backs the deal, "he's in trouble."
"That seems to be an oxymoron. 'Senate,' then 'plan,'" said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).
The opposition to the Senate plan is not really a surprise. House Republicans en masse won't be thrilled that the only thing they're "getting" out of this is an income-verification measure for people obtaining subsidies through the Affordable Care Act. It's not a policy victory with which they can go home to their constituents after a more than two-week shutdown.
According to Roll Call, about 15-20 House conservatives met in secret with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Monday night at the Capitol Hill watering hole Tortilla Coast, where they plotted how to respond to the Senate deal. Given the reactions from House conservatives Tuesday, it's likely that they discussed how to hold firm on their opposition to any deal that does not fundamentally alter Obamacare.
And it appears that House leadership is not yet ready to give in to the Senate plan.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/debt-ceiling-shutdown-deal-house-boehner-2013-10
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