Reid will need Senate Republicans to pass his plan, which Democrats will attach as an amendment to a pending, nonbinding Sense of the Senate resolution.
Democrats believe the plan should pass muster with Boehner, whose two major demands were that any lifting of the debt ceiling be matched dollar for dollar with cuts and that revenues not be increased. Both the Reid and Boehner plans include an outline for a joint committee to find further deficit savings in the future.
The lines of communication between the top leaders of both chambers remain open, Members and aides said Monday, and it’s possible a future compromise could be pegged to an offer that Reid made to Boehner in a meeting Saturday at the White House. The offer involved a two-step approach that would cut spending and raise the debt ceiling in the first part, then use the longer-term deficit reduction plan from the special joint committee to trigger the second part.
When asked whether he believed he would have the votes to send his plan to the House, Reid said: “I would hope so. I’m giving them what they want.”
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