Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Monday issued a stinging response to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) insistence that a clean continuing resolution could not pass the House.
“Speaker Boehner has a credibility problem,” Reid said in a statement. “From refusing to let the House vote on a bill that was his idea in the first place, to decrying health-care subsidies for members of Congress and staff that he worked for months to preserve, to stating that the House doesn’t have the votes to pass a clean CR at current spending levels, there is now a consistent pattern of Speaker Boehner saying things that fly in the face of the facts or stand at odds with his past actions.”
“Americans across the country are suffering because Speaker Boehner refuses to come to grips with reality,” he continued. “Today, Speaker Boehner should stop the games and let the House vote on the Senate’s clean CR so that the entire federal government can re-open within twenty-four hours.”
Despite reports to the contrary, Boehner was adamant on Sunday that such a bill could not pass the lower chamber. In response, Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and White House spokesman Jay Carney challenged Boehner to prove his claim and bring the legislation to a vote.
Reid has repeatedly slammed Boehner throughout the current budget standoff, reportedly calling the speaker a “coward” last week during a meeting with Democrats.
