WASHINGTON — Facing another fast-approaching deadline for averting a government shutdown, the Senate is set to vote on competing budget proposals — both expected to fail — as public and private talks aimed at resolving the stalemate grind on.
Each passing week deepens the complexity surrounding the standoff and complicates the negotiations as Congress approaches other debates over the nation’s debt capacity, entitlement spending and tax policy.
With 10 days until short-term funding for the government runs out, the Senate is expected to begin a series of test votes as soon as today to convince rank-and-file lawmakers — particularly Tea Party-supported freshmen in the House — that compromise will be needed.
“Time is not on our side,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, said Monday.
The spending plan, needed to fund the government for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, is becoming increasingly intertwined with the far-reaching debates this spring over the size and scope of government.
A bipartisan group of six senators is expected to meet behind closed doors again today to discuss a broad proposal to reduce federal deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years — the goal set by President Barack Obama’s fiscal commission in its sweeping deficit-reduction report last year.
The leaders of the president’s commission plan to launch a national campaign today to convince the public of the need for tax and spending reforms to prevent a debt crisis.
Both sides expect Congress will approve another short-term measure by March 18 to prevent a disruption in services.
