Roll Call: “Senate leaders appeared to be closing in on a framework for a deal to avert a default on the nation’s debt on Monday afternoon. The emerging plan would reopen the government until Jan. 15, 2014, and extend the debt limit into February — but it would not address the medical device tax, which many Republicans and Democrats would like to repeal. A source familiar with the negotiations explained that Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed to get the repeal of the tax removed from the negotiations. The Nevada Democrat has been a vocal opponent of repealing the excise tax, at one point calling the idea ‘stupid’ at a news conference. The White House also pushed back against including a medical device tax rollback in the deal. It appeared likely that the deal would punt the question of turning off automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester, to another round of budget talks, with a deadline of Dec. 15. But under one proposal, if the sequester came into effect there would be increased flexibility to deal with it.”
USA Today: “It is unclear whether Boehner can support the proposal, or if he will allow a vote on it if a majority of House Republicans oppose it. However, House Republicans ceded negotiations to Senate leaders after Obama rejected Boehner's most recent terms for a short-term debt ceiling increase. Boehner met with McConnell on Monday and House Republican leaders met privately afterward, but they have not weighed in publicly on the talks. House Republican leaders are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning with their members.”
New York Times: "Senate leaders neared the completion Monday night of a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown while the rest of the world braced for the possibility of an American default that could set off a global financial disaster. Negotiators talked into the evening as senators from both parties coalesced around a plan that would lift the debt limit through Feb. 7, pass a resolution to finance the government through Jan. 15 and conclude formal discussions on a long-term tax and spending plan no later than Dec. 13, according to one Senate aide briefed on the plan."
NBC's Michael O'Brien & Carrie Dann: "The compromise at this point would not involve a repeal of the medical device tax – something Republicans had been pushing for -- but it would give federal agencies more flexibility to implement budget cuts resulting from sequestration. Republican senators are expected to meet behind closed doors Tuesday morning to discuss the details of the developing agreement. That meeting was originally scheduled for Monday night but was delayed because as many as nine GOP senators would not be able to attend, aides said."
Politico: "Speaker John Boehner, who has wrestled with an unruly pack of conservatives for months, will soon be faced with an uncomfortable choice: Pass an emerging bipartisan Senate deal to lift the debt ceiling and fund the government, or don’t — and risk massive political and economic consequences. As the contours of a bipartisan Senate deal became clear, Boehner’s leadership team, allies and rank-and-file lawmakers spent Monday saying that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are gearing up to send the House a crummy deal."
Politico also notes that "Ted Cruz is waiting to decide whether to hold up a potential deal in the Senate that would reopen the government and avert a breach of the debt ceiling. With the debt limit deadline looming Thursday and quick Senate action needed to beat it, Cruz would not divulge whether he’d allow a quick vote on an emerging deal to reopen government and raise the debt ceiling....'We need to see what the details are,' Cruz said when asked whether he’d move to delay a vote past Thursday. Cruz deflected more than half a dozen questions from reporters using the wait-and-see line."
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) called his Senate Republican colleagues the “Senate surrender caucus.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) met with about 15-20 House conservatives over at Tortilla Coast for about two hours yesterday.
Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) has become a YouTube star. His video hitting Republicans on the House floor for a rules change that now only allows the Majority Leader to bring up certain legislation, like the clean CR, now has 1.7 million views on YouTube in just three days.
This is now the most popular story on the Washington Post website. Here was John Stanton’s write up at Buzzfeed.
Van Hollen tells Mashable: "This video hits a fundamental issue at the core of our democracy. But, because it involves an arcane parliamentary procedure, I had no idea that it would spark the public reaction we have seen.