Reid predicts budget will omit many policy riders

The riders include provisions to block parts of the health care reform law and to strip funding for Planned Parenthood.

As Senate Democrats and House Republicans continue negotiating a spending measure for the rest of this fiscal year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, R-Nev., said on Friday he doesn't expect many of the policy riders now in the House-passed bill to survive in the final agreement.

"We are going to have a full discussion on the riders, but we are going to get the number agreed to first," Reid told reporters on a conference call. But he added, "We are not going to bend on some on these ridiculous riders they have."

In February, the House passed a GOP measure that would cap spending this year at $1.028 trillion, $61 billion below current spending levels.

The bill also included a number of policy provisions, also known as spending limitations, to stop initiatives that Republicans oppose. The policy riders include several to block parts of the Democrats' health care reform law; a provision to strip funding for Planned Parenthood; and another that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from spending money to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions.

Senate Democrats oppose all of those, but some could end up in the final package in some form.

According to Democrats, House and Senate negotiators are working on a deal for the remainder of fiscal 2011 to cap spending at $1.055 trillion, which is $33 billion below current levels. The talks are touching on which policy riders to include in a final agreement, and the outcome on those issues could affect the top-line number.

House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters on Friday, "There is no number, there's no agreement on numbers," and said, "We're going to fight for the largest spending cuts that we can get."

Boehner also repeated several times that the goal is not to shut the government down. Lawmakers have until midnight on April 8 to agree on either a funding measure for the rest of the fiscal year or another short-term extension to allow a deal to be considered and passed by Congress. Failure to do anything would lead to a government shutdown.

"You shut the government down, it'll end up costing more than you save," Boehner said, "because it'll interrupt contracts. A lot of problems with the idea of shutting the government. It is not the goal."

Reid also warned of the perils of a government shutdown. "Our fragile economy cannot afford a shutdown," he said. "Last time there was a shutdown, more than $3 billion in exports sat idle in our ports instead of being sold overseas."

But it's not clear if lawmakers will wrap up negotiations in time. Reid said he does not expect Congress to take up another short-term extension unless it is needed to "finalize the paperwork in the agreement that we make."

Boehner said he won't be in Washington for negotiations this weekend, but that appropriators "are doing their job," and that "other conversations" are taking place

Reid on Friday was very dismissive of the policy riders in the House-passed bill, including one that would prohibit funding for National Public Radio.

"We have said time and time again that the riders that are ridiculous in nature, and most of them are, have no chance of surviving," Reid said. "We are going give them the courtesy that we would want them to give us on these riders, we will look at them one by one, but there are some places we are not going to go. We are not going to deal with ... Planned Parenthood, National Public Radio. For me, personally, and I think for my caucus, we are not going to spend a lot of time on those."

On riders involving EPA, Reid said, "Neither the White House or the Senate leaders are going to accept any EPA riders that they have in their bill at this stage"

Reid also noted that negotiators are discussing how much in mandatory spending will be part of the final deal, but he didn't provide any other details. Democrats have pointed to agriculture subsidies that are no longer needed as an example of a possible mandatory cut.

Reid also mocked tea party members' rally at to the Capitol. "There were tens of them here yesterday; that's a chosen word, tens of them, who showed up at Capitol Hill," Reid said. "We could look at them out my balcony window here, and there weren't many to look at."

He also said that a vote in the House on Friday to reassert House support for the bill it passed in February was a waste of time.

"Unfortunately, today my colleagues in the House seem to be listening to this small but loud minority," Reid said. "I heard on the radio all kinds of accounts ... today about, they have to keep this number of $100 billion. Instead of working to create jobs, they are wasting time by voting yet again on a reckless spending bill."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.