February 22, 2011White House Reviews Impact of Potential Government Shutdown
In Washington, we're getting closer and closer to a government shutdown. There's now talk of a continuing resolution to push the deadline back by a couple of weeks, but Republicans will only accept it if it includes many of the cuts they're asking for in their full spending bill.
A shutdown isn't a sure thing yet, but many who were dismissing the idea of it a month ago are taking it seriously today.
Republicans and Democrats, it seems, govern rather differently.
Republicans are proving themselves willing to do what liberals long wanted the Obama administration to do: Play hardball. Refuse compromise. Risk severe consequences that they'll attempt to blame on their opponent.
The Obama administration's answer to this was always that it was important to be seen as the reasonable actor in the drama, to occupy some space known as the middle, and to avoid, so much as possible, the appearance of dramatic overreach. This is as close as we're likely to come to a test of that theory. In two separate cases, Republicans have chosen a hardline position and are refusing significant compromise, even at the risk of terrible consequences.
Will the public turn on them for overreach? Rally behind their strength and conviction? Or not really care one way or the other, at least by the time the next election rolls around?
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February 21, 2011
White House Reviews Impact of Potential Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON -- White House officials have begun reviewing the potential impact of a brief lapse in new government funding if Congress doesn't pass a temporary spending measure by March 4, people familiar with the matter said.
The administration's review, led in part by the Office of Management and Budget, has looked at a range of issues, including the protocol to keep key government functions operational if Congress fails to pass a temporary spending measure by the end of next week.
"As part of the executive branch charged with overseeing the management of the federal government, OMB is prepared for any contingency as a matter of course," OMB communications director Kenneth Baer said.
The current temporary spending law expires March 4. The House passed a spending bill on Saturday morning, but the White House has threatened to veto it because it includes roughly $61 billion in cuts.
Despite major differences, Republicans and Democrats have said they want to avoid an impasse, wary of the political and economic consequences. Still, time is running out and White House officials have pored over details of the 1995 government shutdown.
Administration officials said they are still aiming to avoid any shutdown. People familiar with the review described it more as due diligence, and not a preparation for an eventual shutdown. The administration hasn't sent out instructions to different federal agencies advising them how to plan if a new spending law isn't passed in time.
Mr. Baer said all federal agencies have had to have a contingency plan in place since 1980 in the event of a government shutdown, "and they routinely update them."
"All this is besides the point since, as the congressional leadership has said on a number of occasions and as the President has made clear, no one anticipates or wants a government shutdown," he said.
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