The last few days have been characterized by talks and negotiations rather than votes on specific proposals to end the government shutdown and/or raise the debt ceiling before the October 17th deadline. Over the weekend, the House was in session on Saturday and the Senate was in session on Sunday.
Senate Republicans met with President Obama at the White House on Friday. Like the meeting with House Republicans, the meeting was considered cordial and productive, but without a resolution. It was also reported that President Obama seemed willing to negotiate, including on the medical device tax.
It was reported Sunday that the Senate remains at an impasse over funding levels and the duration of a debt ceiling increase. Despite seeming to have made some progress with Senator Susan Collins' (R-ME) proposal late last week, the proposal now appears to be off the table due to disagreement over some of the details in the plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke on Sunday but did not reach an agreement.
A few votes were recorded – on Friday the House passed a funding bill for the National Nuclear Security Administration (H.J. Res 76, vote of 248-176). On Saturday the Senate voted 53-45 against cloture on S. 1569, the Default Prevention Act of 2013, which would raise the debt limit through 2014 without any spending cuts.
Additionally, on Saturday morning, a number of House Members lined up to sign a discharge petition that would bring a "clean" continuing resolution to the floor for a vote.
On Saturday, New York reopened the Statue of Liberty, which is operated by the National Park Service, despite the shutdown.
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