Cantor: Dems need to stop playing ‘chicken’ with shutdown

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) emphasized Friday that a government shutdown isn’t an acceptable or responsible option for Republicans as leaders prepared to unveil a short-term spending bill with $4 billion in cuts.

Republicans say the short-term budget bill they will release on Friday afternoon is a good-faith effort to avoid a government shutdown and begin negotiations with Senate Democrats on deeper spending cuts.  

{mosads}”We hope the Senate is going to finally join us and not play chicken with a government shutdown,” Cantor said. 

The proposal will make $4 billion in cuts, terminations and reductions from current spending and from President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget, including funding previously approved as earmarks, Cantor said. 

According to GOP aides, the cuts in the bill will be those that were recommended by President Obama and Democrats, leaving very little room for Senate Democrats to object.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) called the short-term funding measure “bipartisan” and said he is hopeful that Senate Democrats would join with the House to approve the measure

“If [Senate Democrats] walk away from this offer, they are actively engineering a government shutdown,” Roskam said.

House Republicans are expected to release details of two-week continuing resolution Friday afternoon on the House Rules Committee website, Cantor told reporters on a conference call. 

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) is expected to release a detailed list of the spending cuts in the bill Friday afternoon. 

Republicans reiterated that this bill is their second attempt to ensure the government remains open and still provides immediate spending cuts. 

The House passed a continuing resolution early Saturday morning that cut $61 billion from current spending levels. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that the long-term funding measure approved by the House last Saturday — that would cut $61 billion in spending — was dead on arrival.

But Democrats in the upper chamber indicated on Thursday their willingness to consider a proposal that would cut spending for the remainder of 2011.

Roskam was pleased that Democrats across the Capitol were considering spending cuts.

“It appears that just now, in the half day or so, that Senate Democrats are indicating even a willingness to contemplate cuts, which is a watershed for them because they’ve been wedded to this failed status quo,” Roskam said.

The short-term spending bill proposed by the House GOP would run through March 18 and keep the government from shutting down when the current measure expires after March 4. 

“There’s no reason for Senate Democrats to walk away from this,” Roskam said.

Cantor said the two-week CR is attempt “to work with the Senate to come to a longer-term agreement” rather than maintain the status quo attempt to avoid a shutdown. 

“I don’t know why Democrats can’t take these steps to rein government in and keep the government running,” said House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). 

This story was updated at 10:52 a.m., 11:14 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.