Updated 1:35 a.m. | Now locked in a budget standoff during a government shutdown, House Republicans passed a face-saving measure early Tuesday morning that would request a conference with the Senate on the continuing resolution to fund the government. Speaker John A. Boehner told reporters early Tuesday morning that Republicans want to keep the government open but want "basic fairness" for the American people under Obamacare. The House agreed to the motion to conference in a 228-199 vote with seven Democrats joining most Republicans in support of the tactic. Nine Republicans rejected the resolution. The motion to conference would ask the Senate to agree to the House’s last offer — which included a one-year delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate and a provision eliminating health benefits for members of Congress and their staff — and attempt to move the House and Senate to negotiate sizable differences on the CR. But the proposal is going nowhere, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Nevada Republican said Monday night, “We will not go to conference with a gun to our head.” While the proposal does little to bring the government out of a shutdown, it does end the House’s game of legislative ping pong. On Monday night, the Senate rejected the House’s third offer on the CR within an hour of House passage. Earlier in the day, the Senate tabled the House’s Saturday offer within 25 minutes of the opening gavel. Meanwhile, House Republicans are banking on Americans blaming the Senate and the White House for refusing to negotiate. (more…)
