House Speaker John Boehner said today he will return his pay during the days the government is shut down. He made the promise as it became clear that Republicans and Democrats -- bitterly divided over women's health funding programs -- will be hard pressed to reach a deal hours before the budget deadline expires. In the case of a government shutdown, essential personnel who are kept on duty -- including troops in the field -- do not receive paychecks, but members of Congress do.
"In the event of a lapse in appropriations for fiscal year 2011 causing a government shutdown, I will return any and all compensation that I would otherwise be entitled during such a lapse in appropriations," Boehner said in a letter to fellow House members.
Sixty senators have signed on to a bill that would ensure troops are paid through a shutdown, but time is quickly running out.
Republican and Democratic negotiators huddled behind closed doors into the early hours of the morning today to hash out a budget deal, and talks are continuing. But there is still no deal to avert a government shutdown at midnight tonight if no bill is agreed upon.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he's hopeful the two sides can reach a deal today and said they had agreed to $38 billion in cuts and the Republicans' 65 so-called "policy riders," except the one that aims to bar funding for Planned Parenthood. He assailed Republicans, saying talks have deadlocked on "ideology."
"Republicans want to shut down the government because they think there's nothing more important than keeping women from getting cancer screenings," Reid said. "This is indefensible and everyone should be outraged. Men and women should be outraged. Republican House leadership have only a few hours left to look in the mirror and snap out of it and realize how positively shameful it would be."
Senate Democrats will offer their own temporary resolution that would fund the government for another week. House Republicans passed a temporary measure Thursday but it was dismissed by Democrats as political cover and ideological.
Republicans say there's no agreement on the budget cuts and blame Democrats for not being serious about the cuts.
"If the government shuts down, it's either because Democrats are pretending, pretending that a previously non-controversial provision is suddenly out of bounds or they refuse to take another baby step in the direction of balancing the government checkbook, something we know the American people want," said Senate's top Republican Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Reid and Boehner met with President Obama at the White House Thursday night for their fourth meeting this week.
Sources said Democrats moved up their number to agree to $34.5 billion in spending cuts. Republicans came down to $39 billion, but there's squabbling over about $6.5 billion. Republicans also want to add $2 billion in defense spending, which would be offset by domestic cuts.
Republicans and the president are essentially in a standoff over 0.17 percent of the budget, but the main battle is over health care services for women.
Abortion has taken center stage in the fight over spending cuts. The abortion measure in the House Republicans' extension bill, and one they say they won't budge on, would reinstate a policy that prevented the District of Columbia from using locally generated taxes to provide financial help to poor women for abortions.
The House voted earlier this year to defund Planned Parenthood, but 41 Democrats in the Senate have already said they would not support that legislation. The White House has said the president would not agree to any ban on funds to Planned Parenthood.
"We've come to realize that the moving target has now focused a bulls eye on women in America," Reid said. "We agreed on a number. But we are not -- we are not -- bending on women's health."
