Senate returns to work on debt, but impasse remains - Washington Post

[ ]

Running in the red

Part 1: How the U.S. detoured to massive debt

That doesn’t mean there won’t be partisan positioning, however. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats are scheduled to meet with Vice President Biden, and possibly President Obama, to discuss the negotiations. As of Tuesday morning, no time or place had been set for the meeting, which was proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late last week.

Wednesday’s meeting will be followed by one on Thursday between Senate Democrats and the White House economic team.

Those meetings, as well as Senate and House Republicans’ weekly huddles later this week, will give both sides an opportunity to discuss their strategy. But the next big development isn’t likely to happen until the White House announces a framework for the next phase of negotiations between the administration and congressional leaders ahead of its July 22 deadline for an agreement.

Administration officials say there has to be a deal by then to give Congress enough time to pass it before Aug. 2, when the United States faces the prospect of defaulting on its debt.

The gap between both sides on several key philosophical issues remains wide. On Monday, the New York Times reported that the White House is considering tens of billions of dollars’ worth of cuts to Medicare and Medicaid as part of a debt-limit deal – reductions that would be dependent upon Republicans’ acceptance of tax increases, one of the main points of contention in the continuing negotiations.

In the meantime, members on both sides of the aisle continue to consider their options in case a sweeping compromise isn’t achieved by the end of the month. During the holiday weekend, several lawmakers signaled that they would consider a short-term debt limit increase, although they said that course would not be ideal.

“The problem with a mini-deal is we have a maxi-problem,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said on “Fox News Sunday. “We’ll take the savings we can get now, and we will re-litigate this as we get closer to the election.”

On Tuesday morning, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) also indicated that he would be open to a short-term deal.

“I do think that we can’t afford to default on America’s financial obligations,” Coons said on CBS’s “Early Show.” He added, “What’s coming up on Aug. 2, something we’ve been warned about for months, is the equivalent of defaulting on America’s mortgage.”

With so little progress, the possibility that the House might have to cancel its scheduled recess later this month has appeared increasingly likely.

“Leader Cantor and [Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.)] identified over $2 trillion in spending cuts during negotiations with Vice President Biden over the last two months that could serve as the blueprint for a potential agreement,” Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said late last week.

“The disagreement remains over the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes that Democrats are trying to impose on individuals, small businesses, and employers. As always, the House will be here if and when needed, including the week of July 18.”

View the original article here