Dems Reject GOP's New Funding Proposal

Republicans’ latest offer to temporarily fund the government was rejected swiftly by Democrats on Wednesday.

The proposal to pass a two-week continuing resolution to buy time for leaders from both parties to negotiate a long-term budget, includes roughly $4 billion worth of spending cuts.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the measure “extreme” and said Democrats would not accept it.

“The Republicans’ so-called compromise is nothing more than the same extreme package the House already handed the Senate, just with a different bow,” said the spokesman. “This isn’t a compromise, it’s a hardening of their original position.”

Previously, Reid and other top Democrats said they would not take up a funding bill passed by the House last weekend that would shave $61 billion off the budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

Congress has until March 4 to negotiate a temporary or long-term funding package. Should the two sides fail to reach agreement by then, the current continuing resolution would expire, leading to a government shutdown.