Boehner: Government Will Not Shutdown
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 12:30PMHouse Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) assured reporters Thursday that the federal government will not shut down at the end of the month.
Current funding expires on September 30. A vote yesterday on a continuing resolution to extend funding through November 18 failed 195-230, with almost every single Democrat voting against. In addition, 48 conservative Republicans voted against the bill on the grounds that it did not cut enough spending.
“There is no threat of government shutdown,” Boehner said. “This resolution was designed to be a bipartisan bill and we had every reason to believe that our counterparts across the aisle would support it. Once they began to see where some of our votes were, they decided to play politics and vote against disaster relief for millions of Americans who’ve been affected.”
Democrats were unhappy with the amount of money — $3.65 billion for disaster relief in the bill, nor did they support the fact that it was partially offset by a $1.5 billion cut to a Department of Energy advanced manufacturing loan program.
Boehner said he had a feeling that the bill would be rejected.
“I’ve always believed in allowing the House to work its will,” Boehner said. “I understood what the risk was yesterday, but why not put the bill on the floor and let the members speak? And they did.”
With the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) down to $215 million in its disaster relief fund, time is running out for lawmakers to authorize new funding.
“We’re going to meet with our Members and present some options to find a way forward,” Boehner pledged.
A new bill could come to the House floor as soon as Thursday, and leaders have warned that the House may stay in session through the weekend. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to recess next week.
Reader Comments