Senate Takes Reins of Fiscal Deal After House Fails to Take Up Plan - East Idaho News
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Senate Takes Reins of Fiscal Deal After House Fails to Take Up Plan

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GETTY 101513 McConnellReid?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1381884309510Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have re-opened negotiations on their bipartisan budget deal after House Republican proposals fell through Tuesday night.

Aides to both men tell ABC News Tuesday night they are “optimistic” an agreement can be reached.

“Given tonight’s events, the leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell. “They are optimistic an agreement can be reached.”

Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Reid, said: “Senator Reid and Senator McConnell have re-engaged in negotiations and are optimistic that an agreement is within reach.”

House Speaker John Boehner left the Capitol Tuesday night after calling off a planned vote on a House Republican plan to fund the government until Dec. 15 and increase the debt limit until Feb. 7, 2014.

With that now off the table, the Senate offers the best hope for passing legislation that would raise the debt limit before the Oct. 17 deadline.

The broad contours of the Senate compromise include funding the government until Jan. 15 and raising the debt limit through Feb. 7, 2014.

Though those terms would take these debates largely off the table through the holiday season, it would only kick the can down the road. Eventually, lawmakers will face a similar need to both extend funding for the government and raise the debt ceiling in 2014.

The deal could also include some provisions that address the president’s health care law, but the negotiations notably exclude any of the demands Republicans initially made to either defund or delay the law’s central provisions.

The Senate is still considering including income verification for people eligible for health care subsidies, a provision some House Republicans support.

But both the House and Senate proposals represent an about-face for Republicans, who have been saddled in public polling with an overwhelming majority of the blame for the shutdown. And it is unlikely to please Tea Party conservatives who still insist that significant alterations to the Affordable Care Act must be part of any budget deal.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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