Republicans reject Senate Democratic bill

The Republican-controlled House and Democratic-run Senate remained deadlocked today over debt legislation required to avoid a first-ever default on US financial obligations.

The Republican-led House later rejected the Senate Democratic bill.

The vote was 246-173. It was a pre-emptive vote in the high-stakes political fight as the Senate still has not voted on the measure from Mr Reid.

Debate on the measure was often testy and reflected the growing frustration among politicians. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pleaded for an end to “this theatre of the absurd” and said “it’s time for us to get real”.

Top congressional leaders and the White House now have little time to work out a deal that can pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by President Barack Obama before a Tuesday deadline to avoid default.

Both the House of Representatives and Senate debated through the afternoon in unusual weekend sessions at the Capitol.

Tuesday is when the government says it will run out of money to meet its financial obligations. It needs Congress to approve an increase in its borrowing authority, known as the debt ceiling. Past increases have been routine but Republicans, citing the giant US deficit, have demanded huge spending cuts as a condition for approving the increase.

“There is very little time” Mr Obama said today in his weekly radio and internet address. He called for an end to political gamesmanship, saying “the time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now.”

Setting the stage for the high-stakes weekend, Senate Democrats yesterday killed a House-passed debt-limit increase and budget-cutting bill less than two hours after it squeaked through the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set up a test procedural vote on a Democratic-backed alternative measure.

Mr Reid’s task was made more difficult after 43 Senate Republicans declared they would oppose his bill – enough to block it from coming to a final vote. His measure would raise the debt limit by 2.4 trillion dollars while cutting spending by 2.2 trillion.

In a letter to Mr Reid, the Republican senators said his bill “fails to address our current fiscal imbalance and lacks any serious effort to ensure that any subsequent spending cuts are enacted.” Mr Reid said he was willing to listen to Republican ideas to make his bill better because time was running short.

Meanwhile, the House scheduled a vote this afternoon to reject Mr Reid’s alternative measure even before the Senate could take it up.

The top Republican in the House, Speaker John Boehner, made it clear that the bill would be dead on arrival in the House.

In a news release titled “DOA: Sen. Reid’s Bill a Non-Starter in the House (and the Senate?),” the Ohio Republican said the vote “will demonstrate that the Reid bill cannot pass the House. This will also expose any Senate vote on the Reid bill as a pointless political exercise that squanders precious time as the spectre of a job-crushing default looms.”

House Democrats said they would put aside their resistance to legislation that makes deep spending cuts and back the Senate measure in a show of strength that could improve Mr Reid’s leverage in negotiations.

“There are some misgivings, but it’s the only game in town,” said Democrat Gerald Connolly of Virginia, as he emerged from an hour-long closed door meeting.

Today’s House vote, though sure to be negative, could pave the way for negotiations on a compromise with Tuesday’s deadline fast approaching.