New York Times: " With a possible default on government obligations just days away, Senate Democratic leaders — believing they have a political advantage in the continuing fiscal impasse — refused Sunday to sign on to any deal that reopens the government but locks in budget cuts for next year....The core of the dispute is about spending, and how long a stopgap measure that would reopen the government should last. Democrats want the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration to last only through mid-November; Republicans want them to last as long as possible."
Washington Post's Paul Kane: " When Washington is in crisis and every other option has fallen to pieces — whether on rescuing Wall Street, rewriting national security rules or agreeing on a budget — Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are usually the ones who put it all back together. But if the two wily 70-somethings who are trying to resolve the current crisis make a deal once again, they will do so despite an increasingly bitter and distant relationship that some say is so fraught with animosity that it endangers their talks."
Politico: "Sen. John McCain said Sunday he's disappointed the White House hasn't played a larger role in negotiating an end to the government shutdown. "'I hope the president will become engaged. Maybe we need to get Joe Biden out of the witness protection program,' the Arizona Republican quipped on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' noting the vice president's absence during shutdown talks. For instance, Biden's schedule notes he's at Camp David this weekend."
NBC’s Luke Russert, Kasie Hunt and Carrie Dann wrap the weekend on the Hill: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say they are working to broker a deal, although both sides warn that those conversations are only in the preliminary stages. Senate Democratic leaders met with President Barack Obama at the White House Saturday afternoon to discuss a way forward. The Senate [was] in session on Sunday.”
Roll Call: “Senate Democratic and Republican leaders indicated Sunday that their negotiations are stuck over questions of how to deal with the automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester.”
“Senate Democrats are seeking to put more pressure on Republicans after a weekend of sporadic negotiations left leaders stalemated in talks to reopen the government and raise the debt limit,” The Hill writes. “Democrats have decided to ratchet up pressure on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) instead of accepting a deal that locks in automatic spending cuts known as sequestration and makes reforms to ObamaCare. Democratic leaders have instead urged Republicans to support a clean bill to raise the debt limit and warned the stock market could plunge on Monday or Tuesday.”
Bob Corker on Morning Joe: “Look, we’re in a bad place. Let’s face it, we all know the House Republican strategy and that came from a few Senate Republicans was the strategy that took us to where we are.”
Jessica Taylor and Suzy Khimm: “Collins’ exact plan might not become the final compromise, but her efforts are a reminder that for all the headlines Tea Party Republicans have grabbed during this fight for digging in, it’s going to be moderates who do the work in their own conference–and then across the aisle–to get a deal. Many senators say Collins’ moves reflect another dynamic as well: while male leaders of both parties have barely been speaking to each other, much less negotiating, Republican women have never stopped talking to their Democratic counterparts in the Senate. In fact, they’ve kept at it just as they have on other big issues–from military sexual assault to mental health and the farm bill. Would Washington be a different place if the tactics of women senators, who make up just 20% of the Senate, were the norm? Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell certainly believes it would. ‘If it were up to the women, this would be over already,” she said. “There’s still a lot of testosterone going around.’”
NBC’s Tom Curry on where we go from here.
It was poke-gate on the House floor between a House Republican aide and a Democratic member.
