Today, the President made separate calls to Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid to discuss the ongoing negotiations on the Continuing Resolution.
The President made clear that we all understand the need to cut spending, and highlighted the progress that has been made to agree to all work off the same number – $73 billion in spending cuts in this year alone. The President said that he has instructed his team to continue to work hard over the weekend with the appropriators to help reach resolution on the composition of those cuts, and reiterated our opposition to cuts that will undermine our economic growth, job creation, and our ability to win the future. He also made clear that we continue to oppose efforts to use this process to further an ideological agenda on issues that have nothing at all to do with reducing spending or reducing the deficit.
The President highlighted the progress that has been made but made clear that this process is running short on time, and he urged both sides to reach a final solution and avoid a government shutdown that would be harmful to our economic recovery.