White House Rejects Stopgap Measure, GOP Preps For Shutdown

By Anna Cameron and Rachel Whitt

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) informed reporters Tuesday that the White House rejected a Republican proposal to fund the government for an additional week.

“The Speaker just returned from the White House, again without a lot of progress on long term C.R.,” Cantor said. “But we’re still working; we still want to deliver on our promise of cutting spending.”

Cantor was referring to a meeting that took place between President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other leading lawmakers.

“The White House now has increased the likelihood of a shutdown and is dismissing out of hand a vehicle we have put forward,” he said.

The latest stopgap measure — known as a continuing resolution — proposes $12 billion in cuts over the next week, as well as military funding for the remainder of the year if the government were to shut down.

“None of us want to see a government shutdown, we just want to cut spending,” said Cantor.

Cantor blamed Senate Democrats for rejecting a Republican budget plan earlier this year that would have reduced current spending levels by $61 billion.

“They’ve not yet demonstrated any position on a long term C.R.”

Cantor also confirmed reports that Boehner was advising Republicans to prepare for a government shutdown in the event that a funding extension is not agreed upon by Friday.

“Just as the Executive Branch is doing, we are also preparing for the possibility of a shutdown,” he said.

This story was updated at 1:50pm.