US government potentially shut down

Washington (CNN) -- Top Democrats and Republicans raced against the clock Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown, negotiating behind closed doors while publicly trading accusations about the cause of the standoff.

Democrats said Republicans were hung up on abortion and other issues relating to women's health. Republicans insisted the size of spending reductions were still the main cause of the dispute.

If Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement by midnight, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down.

That means 800,000 government workers will be furloughed and a range of government services will halt, though essential services such as law enforcement will continue to function.

Click to expand...

Military retirees and annuitants are not paid from Continuing Resolution Act (CRA) appropriations, so those payments will continue as scheduled.

Click to expand...

army times said:

Shutdown averted, military pay to continue

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 8, 2011 23:05:00 EDT

A potential shutdown of the federal government at midnight Friday has been postponed for one week, through midnight April 14, as lawmakers are giving themselves a chance to ratify a rough agreement on the 2011 budget that, if approved, would end military cash-flow problems caused by a series of temporary funding bills.

The agreement, reached less than an hour before a government shutdown would have taken effect, averts a situation in which service members would have reported for duty without pay.

Defense and service officials have complained that operating under six stopgap funding bills since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year had led to a variety of problems, including delays in maintenance, postponed contracts, dwindling supplies and less warning to troops about permanent change-of-station moves. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also said the military was being forced to spend money on programs it no longer wanted because temporary funding bills required them to keep spending at 2010 levels even though priorities had changed.

The amount of 2011 defense funding included in the compromise was not clear Friday night, but negotiators had been discussing a $533 billion defense budget, which would be about $16 billion less than the Obama administration had requested. Still, this would be a slight increase over the level allowed under the temporary funding bills that capped spending at $526 billion, the 2010 spending level.

The agreement reached Friday night allows a seventh temporary funding bill that will keep the government running through midnight April 14, providing time for final details to be worked out on the 2011 budget and for the final compromise to be available for three days of public review, as required by new House rules. Congressional aides said it will take one or two days just to put the agreement into legislative language so it can be filed for public viewing.

There was initial confusion about the expiration date of the new stopgap bill, with it being described as either a six-day or seven-day extension, depending on who was explaining the agreement. Funding expires at 12:01 a.m. on April 15, or early Friday morning.

Defense Department officials had spent the last week detailing how the military would scale back operations in a shutdown that threatened to close commissaries, delay death benefits, force non-essential civilian workers to stay home with no pay and require active and reserve members to report to work with no pay, at least until a new funding bill was enacted. None of those things will happen, at least not right away.

Congressional offices were flooded with worried calls from service members and their families asking how lawmakers expected them to live without pay, complaints that congressional aides said were a key factor in keeping House and Senate leaders at the negotiating table. Leaders were being pressured to pass legislation exempting the military from any pay delays — something that had the backing of 77 senators and 113 representatives — but congressional leaders balked at passing a military pay protection bill because they knew the threat of troops not being paid maintained pressure to negotiate an agreement.

A threat remains of a potential government shutdown next week if the 2011 budget compromise is not approved, with the greatest danger coming from the House of Representatives because the agreement doesn’t cut spending as much as some Republicans wanted and because negotiators watered down some House-passed funding restrictions. However, House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, met with Republican colleagues before announcing an agreement, and appeared to convince them that the basic agreement, which includes more than $40 billion in spending cuts, was enough progress to avoid a government shutdown.

Click to expand...