RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
The federal government got itself a little breathing space against the threat of a government shutdown, but the budget battle at the heart of it has not been resolved. This week the partisan feud moves from the House to the Senate.
Under a deal brokered by the White House, the Senate will vote on two competing proposals. One is the bill already passed by House Republicans, which cuts more than $60 billion this year from domestic programs and foreign aid. The other is a bill backed by the White House that trims about a tenth that much. NPR's David Welna reports that both face an uphill battle.
DAVID WELNA: The federal government would have to start shutting down today had Congress not passed a continuing resolution, or CR, last week, keeping federal programs in business until the end of next week. For congressional Republicans, that stopgap measure was a victory, because it's a two-week version of what they'd like done the rest of this fiscal year, which is to cut about $2 billion a week from current funding levels.
All this has put Democrats on the defensive. They don't want to be accused of ignoring this year's trillion and a half dollar deficit, and they don't want to be held responsible if there's a government shutdown. And, they sound ready to make more concessions. Here's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, late last week, on the Senate floor.
Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada): There's no dispute on the 53 Democrats we are willing to cut. We've cut $51 billion from our president's budget. And as we talked about, we're willing to do more, but we're not willing to do this with a meat axe.
WELNA: Reid was referring to the budget the White House proposed last week to get through this fiscal year. It is $51 billion less than what President Obama had originally asked for, but that budget was never adopted. Democrats are, in reality, proposing to cut only about a tenth as much as Republicans are from current spending levels. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls the Democrats' budget proposal unserious.
Senator MITCH MCCONNELL (Republican, Kentucky): What the White House is proposing is little more than one more proposal to maintain the status quo to give the appearance of action where there is none. The latest proposal is unacceptable, and it's indefensible.
WELNA: McConnell made clear he and his fellow Republicans will vote against what the Democrats are proposing, while Reid called the bill with $60 billion in cuts that Republicans are backing, quote, "probably one of the worst pieces of legislation ever drafted." Neither proposal, he added, will garner the 60 votes needed to move forward.
Senator REID: We have to acknowledge that the answer that will allow us to move forward lies somewhere between our two positions, perhaps, and we have to recognize that digging in one's heels threatens our fiscal footing.
WELNA: But Republicans are not in a mood to compromise. Idaho's Mike Crapo says he and his fellow GOP senators are not going to back down.
Senator MIKE CRAPO (Republican, Idaho): The Republicans are very firm about the fact that they have to have the kind of movement toward deficit reduction that is included in their CR proposal.
WELNA: Democrats, meanwhile, are divided. Those who are more conservative or facing re-election next year seem ready to go along with more budget cuts. Others, such as Iowa's Tom Harkin,-* feel betrayed.
Senator TOM HARKIN (Democrat, Iowa): I'm disappointed in the White House. I'm greatly disappointed, so far, in what they have been advocating, which basically is sort of buying into, we've got to cut everything out of discretionary.
WELNA: Claremont McKenna College congressional expert Jack Pitney says serious negotiations on how much more to cut won't take place until this week's votes make clear to both sides that neither of the proposals before the Senate has the support needed to pass.
Dr. JACK PITNEY (Claremont McKenna College): Eventually, we're going to see some substantial cuts. The big question, and I don't think anybody really knows the answer, is what's the final number going to be. It's probably going to be less than the Tea Party Republicans like and more than the Democrats would like.
WELNA: In other words, a compromise.
David Welna, NPR, the Capitol.
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