CNN - Deadline passes; budget talks fail to avert shutdown - Nov. 14, 1995 CNN U.S. News

Deadline passes; 11th-hour budget talks fail to avert shutdown

November 14, 1995
Web posted at: 1:15 a.m. EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican congressional leaders failed to reach an agreement with the White House Monday in late- night talks called in an attempt to avert a government shutdown Tuesday. (House Speaker Newt Gingrich's assessment - 309K AIFF sound or 309K WAV sound)

The White House meeting came at the end of a long day in which President Clinton had vetoed spending and borrowing bills, saying that Republicans had attached provisions he found unacceptable.

Republican and Democratic leaders had two very different takes on the amount of progress of the White House talks.

In a press briefing following the meeting, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said there was "a fair chance" Congress and the White House would reach an agreement Tuesday, the day the government's spending authority expired.

How do you think a "government shutdown" would affect you?
Feedback: Please send us your comments.
You said it - some user comments.

But Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who participated in the talks, said, "There was no progress at all. It was a frank exchange of views. We attempted to reconcile our differences in a number of ways. The president held firm in his determination not to let Medicare be used in any calculation related to both the continuing resolution and the debt limit. We talked about how we might bridge our differences and no resolution was achieved."

Daschle said the Democrats asked for a two-day extension of the continuing resolution so that federal workers would not be furloughed and that Gingrich indicated it was not a possibility. Both Democrats and Republicans said there would be further talks on the continuing resolution Tuesday.

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt was pessimistic about the prospect for those talks. "I think we've got some tough problems to solve here," he said. "This (a shutdown) could last a while." (169K AIFF sound or 169K WAV sound)

Federal employees have been instructed to report to work Tuesday, so there is still some room for maneuvering, although technically, the government's spending authority for most federal agencies expired at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Deadline passes; 11th-hour budget talks fail to avert shutdown

Related stories:

Related sites:

| CONTENTS | SEARCH | CNN HOME PAGE | MAIN U.S. NEWS PAGE |