Parties point fingers over expired programs
Lawmakers have said they plan to extend the programs, which include unemployment and insurance benefits, retroactively when they return from recess next week.
With unemployment benefits, subsidies for medical insurance for those who lost jobs, flood insurance and a freeze on a reduction in Medicare physician payments expired Monday, congressional Democrats and Republicans are resuming efforts to blame each other for the impasse.
Although lawmakers have said they plan to extend the programs retroactively when they return from recess next week, more than 200,000 Americans will exhaust unemployment benefits this week. Democrats say they think they can fault a refusal by Senate Republicans to extend the programs on an emergency basis without an offset.
"Families in Nevada and across America are struggling to make ends meet, and many are relying on unemployment insurance and health benefits as they look to find work," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. "It is inexcusable and irresponsible for Republicans to once again block the extension of these benefits."
Senate Democrats tried to approve an extension of expiring provisions before the recess, but Republicans, saying the extensions should be paid for, opposed extending the programs by unanimous consent. Unlike a similar dispute in February, Senate Republicans were unified in their position, with Republican leaders backing the push.
Republicans offered a paid-for extension, which Democrats voted down along party lines. The sides then reached a tentative deal to extend the programs through the recess, and to cover the costs, but House Democrats rejected the concession. Senate Democrats then voted to adjourn and fell back on faulting the GOP for not agreeing to extend the programs with a pay-for.
A Republican leadership aide called the maneuvering by Democrats cynical.
"Democrats knew what they were doing and didn't extend them," the aide said. "It's disingenuous at best. It's disgusting at worst."
The aide said Senate Republicans are prepared to discuss the issue with constituents.
"All of our members knew what had happened when they left," he said. "They knew Reid wanted a political wedge issue. They are all very capable of discussing this issue."
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who faced Democratic anger when he blocked benefits in February over the pay-for issue, ripped Democrats on Monday.
"We could have stayed in Washington to resolve the issue and see that these benefits are extended and paid for, but it seems the Democrats thought it was more important to catch their planes," Bunning said in a statement. "I am disappointed that the Democrats continue to play political games to avoid paying for these benefits."
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs addressed the expiration Monday, saying the administration's goal was "to get the Senate and others to see the importance of making sure that funding doesn't go away."