Politico: Senate Moderates press Boehner to avoid government shutdown
A group of 16 moderate Democratic senators sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Wednesday urging him to “resolve” the current funding debate and avert an “irresponsible” government shutdown.
The outreach effort, spearheaded by Democrat Mark Udall of Colorado, comes in the 11th hour of round-the-clock negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Boehner, who is trying to balance the interests of a diverse Republican caucus.
“The federal government and Congress should be single-mindedly focused on supporting economic development and job growth. But some members within your caucus continue to seek sustained confrontation and are interested in shutting down the government as a misguided sign that they are serious about debt reduction,” the senators wrote. “Knowing that a bipartisan deal is within reach to cut tens of billions of dollars from current funding levels, it would be irresponsible to shut down the government and punish our constituents solely to assert a political point.”
The group of Democratic co-signers included: Michael Bennet of Colorado, Tom Carper and Chris Coons of Delaware, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Mark Begich of Alaska, Jon Tester of Montana, Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
