Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., the cochair of the conference committee, returned to Washington Tuesday even with the Senate still in recess.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., the cochair of the conference committee, returned to Washington Tuesday even with the Senate still in recess. Carolyn Kaster/AP file photo

Optimism Persists for Budget Deal. Is It Real?

There are 10 days left before negotiators must report their recommendations.

With just 10 days before the budget conference committee must report its recommendations to Congress, signs of movement in the ongoing negotiations are appearing in the halls of the Capitol.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., the cochair of the conference committee, returned to Washington Tuesday even with the Senate still in recess, an indication that the talks are ramping up ahead of the committee’s Dec. 13 deadline.

Murray is frequently reaching out to other Democratic conferees. She spoke with House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on Monday night and planned to speak with him again Tuesday night or Wednesday, Van Hollen said.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., another conferee, said Tuesday morning that the budget negotiators were getting “close” to a deal that will cover the remainder of fiscal year 2014 and potentially fiscal year 2015 as well. “I think they’re down to the last few items.… They’ve narrowed the gap fairly substantially since they started this, and they’re to be commended for that,” Cole said.

But Van Hollen poured cold water on warm depictions of the negotiations coming from some of his Republican colleagues Tuesday, noting that there is still no deal on the table.

“Right now, the negotiations work by subtraction—in other words, people are taking things off the table. So, if you define success by narrowing the discussion, I guess that’s progress,” Van Hollen said Tuesday. “But you still have to resolve the narrow issues and that’s not resolved. The big issue on the sequester is coming to some agreement on the offsets. And there’s been no agreement on the offsets.”

There is clearly movement, and members on both sides say that’s positive in itself. However, the specific content of the discussions continues to be a closely held secret.

Van Hollen and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., the vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, walked into the House chamber together on Tuesday and stood in the back of the Democratic section, discussing a potential budget agreement for several minutes, Van Hollen confirmed. But he laughed when pressed for information about what was said.

Price said that he’s “very” confident the committee will strike a deal, but would not offer details on how or when it would happen.

As speculation about a possible deal has ramped up in recent days, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has once again taken to wearing his headphones around the Capitol, telling shouting reporters—with a smile—that he’s unable to hear them.

“I got nothing to say to you guys. But have a nice day, all right?” Ryan told a pack of reporters Tuesday morning after he emerged from a meeting with House GOP leaders.

Among the signs of movement on a deal: Negotiators have begun focusing on how to package a potential agreement legislatively in a way that can avoid any last-second roadblocks to passage.

Under the current strategy being discussed, if the 29 conferees agree on a path forward—and a majority of representatives on the panel from both parties would have to approve it—Congress could pass a budget “blueprint” in the form of a “conference report.” That agreement does not have to be signed by the president, but it will be pitched as Congress having reached a deal to avoid another government shutdown on Jan. 15.

But that isn’t the whole story. Over the Christmas break, appropriators from both chambers will devise their spending bills—either as separate measures or a larger, omnibus bill—for anticipated passage when Congress reconvenes in early January. That would also be the vehicle for undoing the next round of sequester cuts.

It is likely that a second bill will also be devised laying out new fees or fee hikes to replace the sequester spending reductions. The concern is that some lawmakers who approved of the budget “blueprint” may not support separate legislation increasing fees, particularly those that hit certain favored constituencies, leaving appropriators without the funds to carry out the larger budget agreement.

Democrats hope that House Republican leaders do not want to see anxiety build in the coming weeks over the potential for another government shutdown, which also might detract from the momentum of their attacks on the administration over the launch of the health care law.

Despite the talk of a potential agreement, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., on Tuesday expressed skepticism, asserting that Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other House Republicans have an established pattern of walking away from deals.

“Their energy towards getting a budget deal seems to be [at a] minimum. I hope that’s not the case. I hope we move forward on it,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer pointed to a potential short-term continuing resolution, currently under discussion among House Republicans if the budget negotiators fail to reach a deal. Few details have emerged as to how long the CR would last, and Cole said Tuesday that Boehner has not made a final decision on whether he will pursue a CR at all. But Cole warned that many in his caucus will not be comfortable heading home for the holidays without one.

“I think there’s a pretty strong sentiment in our conference that we don’t want there to be a lot of discussion over the holidays about a potential government shutdown,” he said.

Democrats are characterizing a CR vote in December as a “symbol of defeat,” in Van Hollen’s words. Both he and Hoyer said Tuesday that they would oppose a continuing resolution, arguing that it would lock in sequestration cuts.

NEXT STORY: Play of the Day: Racism Is Over!

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.