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CNN: House takes up budget deal
The House is scheduled to begin considering on Monday a budget deal covering the remainder of this fiscal year. A vote is expected on Wednesday. The Senate would take up the bill at some point after that, according to Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office. Last week, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders negotiated an agreement to cut $38.5 billion in non-military discretionary spending for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The deal came about an hour before funding authorization for the government was scheduled to expire, which would have partially shut down government operations.
CNN: Obama to lay out long-term deficit plan this week
Fresh off last-minute budget negotiations that averted a partial government shutdown, President Barack Obama this week will lay out his plan for long-term deficit reduction demanded by conservatives. White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe appeared on four Sunday talk shows to announce Obama's intentions and deliver the administration message that further deals like the one reached last Friday night with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, will be necessary as Congress and the administration face more major budget decisions in coming months.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Negotiators work overnight as budget deal deadline looms
With the deadline for a partial government shutdown less than 24 hours away, negotiators worked into Friday morning on a spending plan for the rest of the current fiscal year after a fourth White House meeting in 48 hours between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement. It was the second straight night that talks involving Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, led to their aides being charged with trying to work out remaining differences in the ensuing hours. In statements to reporters, Obama and the congressional leaders all said they had narrowed their differences but conceded that more work was needed. No details of the outstanding issues were provided.
Washington Post: As shutdown looms, Boehner and Reid rely on their right hands in negotiations
The real negotiations to reach a budget deal occur in unscheduled visits and late-night phone calls between two men you’ve probably never heard of. At one end of the Capitol is Barry Jackson: quiet and unflappable, a plump, shaggy and rumpled Midwesterner who loves auto racing (he’s a regular at the Indy 500) and settled in Washington 20 years ago as John Boehner’s right-hand man. At the other end is David Krone: hard-nosed and crafty, a multimillionaire former cable lobbyist who travels around playing the best golf courses, prefers fine shirts and custom-tailored suits, usually pinstriped (“Definitely not Jos. A. Bank,” says an associate), and looks up to his boss, Harry Reid, the way a son idolizes his father.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Obama: Progress made at night meeting, but no budget deal yet
A late evening meeting between President Barack Obama and the leaders of the House and Senate failed to reach agreement Wednesday on a spending plan to avert a government shutdown, but all the participants said progress was made and talks would continue. If there is no deal by midnight Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down. Obama called the 90-minute talks with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, "constructive" and he said they narrowed and clarified the outstanding issues.
CNN: Shutdown: 800,000 federal workers in the dark
There are two kinds of federal workers right now: the essential and the non-essential. Most don't know which group they're in. And none of them will be getting a paycheck if the government goes dark. The budget stalemate between Congress and President Obama has raised the specter of a shutdown at the end of Friday. If they don't reach a deal, the government will shift to performing only "essential operations." It's likely that more than 1 million essential employees will be asked to come to work - and not be paid.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Democrats, Republicans fail to reach budget deal
Top White House and congressional negotiators failed to reach agreement Tuesday on a spending plan for the rest of the current fiscal year, bringing the federal government closer to a shutdown at the end of the week. Key Democrats rejected a Republican proposal to keep the government running for one more week at the cost of an additional $12 billion in cuts. Republicans, meanwhile, dismissed Democrats' insistence that there had been an agreement to cut $33 billion for the rest of the fiscal year. If there is no deal by midnight Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down.
CNN: GOP budget chief calls for $6.2 trillion spending cut
Top House Republican leaders unveiled a 2012 budget proposal Tuesday that would cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade while radically overhauling Medicare and Medicaid - two hugely popular entitlement programs that have long been considered politically untouchable. The proposal, drafted by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, would also overhaul key portions of the tax code, dropping the top rate for individuals and businesses to 25% while eliminating a number of loopholes. Under the plan, according to the GOP, total federal spending would drop to under 20% of the economy, compared with at least 23% under President Barack Obama's blueprint. Domestic discretionary spending - the share of the budget not devoted to entitlements - would remain frozen below 2008 levels.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
Compiled by Greg Clary
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CNN: Obama invites congressional leaders for budget talks
President Barack Obama has invited congressional leaders for a meeting Tuesday to try to push through a budget deal three days before the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. The meeting comes as Republican and Democratic leaders signaled a continuing stalemate in negotiations on how much to cut government spending for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. Without a deal by Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will shut down.
CNN: Ryan to unveil budget plan that cuts $6 trillion in 10 years
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, will unveil a highly anticipated 2012 Republican budget proposal Tuesday that would cut about $6 trillion over 10 years, according to GOP sources familiar with the document. The plan, the most detailed economic guidepost for the new House GOP majority, would also mean dramatic changes to those political lightning rods – entitlements. The GOP budget blueprint calls for a controversial overhaul of Medicare, the health care program for seniors. And it imposes deep cuts in Medicaid, which provides health benefits to low-income Americans.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Obama to announce bid for re-election, sources say
President Barack Obama plans to send supporters a text or e-mail message announcing his intention to run for re-election, multiple Democratic sources tell CNN. The message, which might include a video that would be posted online as well, could come as early as Monday morning. The sources say Obama's team also hopes to file papers with the Federal Election Commission on Monday to launch his 2012 re-election campaign. The timing of the announcement and the filing could change depending on outside events. The White House is closely watching negotiations on Capitol Hill over the 2011 spending bill, which must be resolved this week to avoid a government shutdown.
CNN: Senators expect budget deal to avoid government shutdown
Top senators said Sunday that they believe Congress will reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown this week, but there was little consensus on two larger budget battles looming in coming months. Negotiations on federal spending for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends September 30, have agreed on a target figure for a compromise on cuts. Now the question is whether they can work out exactly what programs should get axed.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Obama administration pushes dual-track policy in Libya
Despite having CIA agents on the ground and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's exit as stated policy, U.S. officials continue to say the NATO-led military mission in Libya is only for its authorized humanitarian purposes. The seeming discrepancy is part of a delicate diplomatic posture by the Obama administration on the complex overseas operation that involves a U.N. Security Council resolution, a multinational military force and the symbolism of presidential statements and actions. With the military mission shifting Thursday to a new phase of full NATO control after initial U.S. leadership, divisions among alliance partners and within Congress became more evident, exacerbated by the administration's differing military and political goals.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Congress members grill administration officials on Libya mission
Angry members of Congress questioned top administration officials Wednesday on why they weren't asked to authorize President Barack Obama's decision to commit U.S. forces to the Libya military mission. The question dominated a classified briefing by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the U.S. House, according to House members who attended. A separate briefing for the Senate occured shortly afterward. Other issues raised by the legislators included whether the United States intended to arm the Libyan rebels, and the cost of the mission to U.S. taxpayers, participants told CNN.
CNN: Budget negotiators agree on spending cut target, Biden says
Vice President Joe Biden announced late Wednesday that House and Senate bipartisan negotiators had agreed to a spending-cut target of $73 billion in 2011 budget talks aimed at heading off a government shutdown before next week, when a temporary bill keeping the government operating runs out. Congress has been passing a series of short term spending resolutions since October 1, when the 2011 fiscal year began. ‘We’re all working off the same number now – $73 billion,” Biden said, emerging from a lengthy meeting with Senate Democratic leaders in the Capitol. “Obviously, there’s a difference in the composition of that number. What’s included, what’s not included. It’s gong to be a thorough negotiation.”
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
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CNN: Obama signals willingness to arm Libyan rebels
On a day when opposition forces in Libya suffered battlefield losses, President Barack Obama made clear in interviews Tuesday with the three major U.S. television networks that he was open to arming the rebel fighters. "I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in," Obama told NBC in one of the separate interviews he gave the day after a nationally televised speech on the Libya situation. "I think it's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could," Obama told ABC. "We're looking at all our options at this point."
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
WASHINGTON/POLITICAL
For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com
CNN: Obama: Not acting in Libya 'would have been a betrayal of who we are'
President Barack Obama on Monday rejected criticism of his decision to commit U.S. forces to the U.N.-authorized military mission in Libya, telling the American people there were strategic and moral reasons to act. In a nationally televised speech at the National Defense University, Obama said his administration kept its pledge that the mission would be limited in size and scope, announcing that the NATO alliance would assume full command on Wednesday. The United States now will play "a supporting role - including intelligence, logistical support, search-and-rescue assistance, and capabilities to jam regime communications," Obama said, noting that both the risk and cost of the operation to America "will be reduced significantly."
CNN: Republicans upset with Obama's regime change remarks
When U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday it would be wrong to seek regime change in Libya by force, Republican lawmakers took issue - saying removing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is and should be precisely the goal. Gadhafi must have been comforted to hear the president's words, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said following Obama's televised address. "If we tell Gadhafi, 'Don't worry, you won't be removed by force,' I think that's very encouraging to Gadhafi," McCain said, after Obama delivered a speech explaining U.S. intervention in Libya. McCain said the president's words were "puzzling" because Obama has previously said that U.S. policy is for Gadhafi's ouster. "The reason why we wage wars is to achieve the results of a policy that we state," McCain said.
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