 Obama addresses reporters in the Briefing Room following a meeting with Congressional leaders on the budget
April 7th, 2011
10:13 PM ET
Obama: no deal on budget tonightWASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama made another late night appearance in the White House Briefing Room after his second meeting of the day with Congressional leaders. The president said while additional progress had been made in the budet talks and their differences have been "narrowed," there are a few unresolved and outstanding issues. "I'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism," the president said to reporters, "but I think we are further along today than we were yesterday." Obama said he expects to hear from Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader in the morning. "Because the machinery of the shutdown is necessarily starting to move, I expect an answer in the morning, and my hope is that I'll be able to announce to the American people sometime relative early in the day that a shutdown has been averted," he said. The White House announced late Thursday that his trip to Indianapolis to tour a hybrid transmission factory Friday has been postponed.  Sen. Majority Leader Bob Dole, Vice President Al Gore, President Bill Clinton, and Speaker Newt Gingrich shake hands during a budget meeting in 1995
April 7th, 2011
08:48 PM ET
Flashback!The last time there was a government shutdown, Bill Clinton was president and Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. The 1995-96 budget impasse between Democrats and Republicans was largely over spending on education, public health, the environment, and funding for Medicare. Negotiations were then complicated when Congress refused to raise the debt limit in hopes of forcing Clinton to surrender. He didn't. Over a period of seven months, there were two government shutdowns and 13 continuing resolutions before a budget agreement was finally made on April 25, 1996. Both Democrats and Republicans claimed victory in the budget battle, but it was President Clinton's approval ratings that soared after the budget became law.  House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talk to reporters as they leave a White House meeting Thursday.
April 7th, 2011
03:08 PM ET
Government shutdown looms- no deal yetWASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, announced Thursday afternoon that negotiators had not yet been able to reach an agreement on a federal budget covering the remainder of the current fiscal year. The two men made the announcement after emerging from a round of talks at the White House with President Barack Obama. They said they expected to resume talks later Thursday afternoon and would return to the White House for additional discussions at 7 p.m. ET. If Congress and the White House cannot reach an agreement by midnight Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down. 
April 7th, 2011
01:23 PM ET
Budget showdown and veto threat (WASHINGTON) CNN–The budget showdown continues as President Obama says he will veto a Republican proposal to extend funding for the government for one week. The White House issued a statement saying, "This bill is a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise for funding the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 and avert a disruptive Federal Government shutdown that would put the Nation’s economic recovery in jeopardy." Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid called an emergency one-week government funding measure vote scheduled by the Republican-controlled House a "nonstarter." The measure, which would fund the Pentagon for the remainder of the current fiscal year, would cut overall spending by another $12 billion. Republican House Speaker John Boehner insists "there is absolutely no policy reason for the Senate not to follow the House in taking these responsible steps to support our troops and keep the government open." (click here for full story)  President Obama walks out of the Oval Office Wednesday as a government shutdown looms. Later Wednesday the president would summon Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to a late night White House meeting but as of yet a deal to resolve the stalemate remains elusive. They meet again Thursday.
April 7th, 2011
12:00 PM ET
April 7th, 2011
07:49 AM ET
UPDATE: POTUS schedule Thursday April 7, 2011 Looks like they are giving it another try. Obama, Biden, Reid and Boehner will meet again at the White House at 1pm. 1:00PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to discuss ongoing negotiations on a funding bill Oval Office / Closed Press WASHINGTON (CNN) – The midnight oil was burning at the White House last night. President Obama, Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Boehner met at the White House for 90 minutes to negotiate a possible budget deal to avoid a government shut down. "I remain confident that if we're serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown," Obama said. "But it's going to require a sufficient sense of urgency from all parties involved" to prevent a shutdown that "could have real effects on everyday Americans." But the bottom line this morning ...there is still no deal. The president's schedule for the day is after the jump. So far no other budget meeting has been planned for the president. 
April 7th, 2011
06:21 AM ET
Obama cites progress toward a budget deal; talks continueBy Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen, CNN Washington (CNN) - Spurred by a hastily arranged evening meeting between President Barack Obama and the top two congressional leaders, negotiators worked into Thursday to try to work out remaining differences in a possible budget deal that would avert a government shutdown. If there is no deal by midnight Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down. Obama told reporters that the 90-minute meeting he held Wednesday night with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was "constructive," adding it narrowed and clarified the outstanding issues. He provided no specifics, and said staff members would continue working through the night on the details. click for full story |
  |
||
|
|
||
