Speaker Boehner’s office released this readout after meetings today at the White House.
WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 5)
- While there was a good discussion, no agreement was reached. Speaker Boehner said Republicans are committed to resolving last year’s budget mess in a manner that will help to remove uncertainty for private-sector job creators, and said failure to make real spending cuts will hurt job creation by further eroding confidence in our economy.
- The Speaker told the president that the House will not be put in a box and forced to choose between two options that are bad for the country (accepting a bad deal that fails to make real spending cuts, or accepting a government shutdown due to Senate inaction), and that this is why House Republicans – in lieu of an agreement in which the White House and Senate agree to real spending cuts – are rallying behind a potential third option: a CR that funds our troops through September while cutting an additional $12 billion in spending and keeps the government running for another week.
- The Speaker said the new CR has not yet been scheduled for floor action, and that Republicans’ strong preference is that we instead pass a bipartisan agreement this week that resolves last year’s budget mess by making real spending cuts and keeps the entire government running through September.
- As he has said for the past week, the Speaker reminded those present that there has never been an agreement on $33 billion as an acceptable level of spending cuts, and that $33 billion in cuts is not enough, particularly when it is achieved in large part through budget gimmicks. He said Americans are concerned about how much we’re spending, and how we’re spending it, which is why the House passed legislation that contains $61 billion in cuts as well as significant policy limitations on how taxpayer funds can be spent, and reiterated that House Republicans will insist that any final agreement include both significant cuts and policy limitations.
Speaker Boehner will hold a press conference at 2:00 PM today EST.
