Does John Boehner have a card left to play? Faced with an angry group of Tea Party members in his caucus over the deal floating in the Senate, Boehner told House Republicans that he will move a new bill to the floor today for a vote. What will he pose for an alternative that might jolt Senate Republicans to force more talks?
Msg from leadership, per sources in room: Sen deal isn't done, we're not going to sit back, we're moving out plan today— Robert Costa (@robertcostaNRO) October 15, 2013
Boehner is now expected to address the media after GOP meeting, which may mean he has something to announce— Russell Berman (@russellberman) October 15, 2013
Allahpundit had an idea for Boehner even before Robert Costa reported on the new move by Boehner:
If Boehner passed a clean, longer-term debt-ceiling hike (6 mos) in lieu of Senate deal, O & Reid would have to accept it, no?— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) October 15, 2013
That got a lot of criticism on Twitter, even though — as AP pointed out — Heritage suggested a similar strategy last week, although they denied having done so. Andrew Stiles’ sourcesstuck to their story and others corroborated the earlier sources, and also noted thatHeritage’s CEO told the Wall Street Journal the same thing:
Mr. Needham thinks, by the way, that the stalemate may drag on well beyond Oct. 17, the day the U.S. Treasury may reach the federal borrowing limit. He has little problem with the latest strategy to pass a temporary debt-ceiling extension, viewing the debt-default debate as a distraction from the battle over the future of ObamaCare funding . . .On the latest offer from House Republicans—a short-term extension of the debt ceiling—Mr. Needham calls it a shrewd move by Speaker John Boehner: “We’ve got to get back to the discussion of ObamaCare, not the typical Washington food fight.”
Not to worry, though. It’s not a clean bill, but it’s not far off from the Senate deal, and it has roughly the same CR/DL parameters as the rumored Senate deal. Costa elaborated on the proposed bill:
emerging House legislation: CR + DL + med device + income verification + Vitter language— Robert Costa (@robertcostaNRO) October 15, 2013
Outline of GOP House deal, per @DentPressShop: CR to 1/15, debt limit moved to 2/7— Jessica Taylor (@JessicaTaylor) October 15, 2013
House will vote today on their debt limit proposal, which will include a provision that would require Obama to sign up for Obamacare: Issa— Chris Moody (@Chris_Moody) October 15, 2013
This looks like an attempt to force a conference committee rather than an attempt to block negotiations. Boehner tried to get Harry Reid on board for a conference committee earlier, but Reid was still refusing all negotiations. Boehner may calculate that he can give this one last try on the House’s terms, and a conference committee will give him enough cover to push through the Senate deal while perhaps winning an extra sweetener or two. The House really wants the Vitter amendment, at least to force the Democrats to defeat it, in one last push.
At this point, though, the House and Senate have closed the gap considerably. We’ll see if the House effort accelerates or slows the final resolution of the standoff.
Update: The Vitter language has been narrowed, by the way:
House GOP introducing own bill — like Senate's but delays medical device tax 2 years +forces POTUS/Members of Congress/Cabinet on Obamacare— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 15, 2013
Since the problem has mainly been with staffer compensation — most members of Congress don’t need to worry about their subsidies — this seems like a significant concession.
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