While it's not time yet to start thinking about a possible government shutdown, both parties have clearly started to maneuver for public relations advantage on this issue, which will hit home in coming weeks.
First, let's lay out what I'm talking about here.
Right now, the federal government is operating under a temporary budget, which runs out on March 4.
Congress is off next week, so while the House will approve a stop-gap budget (with billions in budget cuts), the Senate won't be back until the week of February 28 to deal with it.
And as of right now, it's not even the first item on the agenda for the 28th.
"The Senate is adjourned until the 28th, at which point we'll take up the...patent bill," tweeted a bemused Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Stewart stopped by the press gallery yesterday to chit chat with the Radio-TV crowd, as we all tried to figure out how things might go in March - as both sides lay the groundwork for some Legislative Chicken.
Democrats have been trying for days to talk up the possibility of a government shutdown, charging that Republicans are the ones who want to plunge the U.S. into a fiscal crisis.
Republicans, who still remember the disaster that was the 1995 shutdown under Speaker Newt Gingrich, have steadfastly said that is not their choice, but they also have tried to turn up the heat on the Democrats to cut a deal on spending reductions.
Insiders in both parties think there will be another short-term extension of the stop-gap budget that's in place right now, maybe into mid-to-late March.
That will give the Senate time to consider the CR and both sides time for some negotiation.
But think about it - Democrats can sort of run out the clock on this budget year by asking for more extensions of the current budget, and Republicans made clear yesterday they are not interested in that scenario.
"I am not going to move any kind of short-term CR at current levels," said Speaker John Boehner - in other words - Boehner says he is not going to let Democrats keep extending the current budget plan, without making any cutbacks.
That's where things will get tricky.
One can probably assume that Democrats aren't interested in deep cuts like GOP leaders in the House, so there will have to be some kind of deal-making on cuts, a deal that is likely to be short of what Republicans have put together so far on cuts, just over $61 billion.
It will make for an interesting run to the Easter break.
A colleague of mine took me aside the other day and said he remembered a piece of advice I gave him over 15 years ago about covering major debates in the Congress.
"It's all about brinksmanship in the Congress," he quoted me as saying.
And that will be very true in the upcoming back-and-forth on the budget. While it's not time yet to start thinking about a possible government shutdown, both parties have clearly started to maneuver for public relations advantage on this issue, which will hit home in coming weeks. First, let's lay out what I'm talking about here.Right now, the federal government is operating under ...
