The Senate has rejected the House bill and the House just voted down Reid's bill (even though Reid's bill isn't finalized) by a vote of 173 - 246. So, why does this matter? According to the NY Times, it makes Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a key player:
The pre-emptive vote could strengthen the hand of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, as he seeks additional concessions from Mr. Reid.And, it gets worse. McConnell wants to be the one running the show -- and bypassing Reid to go directly to Obama:
Mr. Reid, for his part, said Mr. McConnell was dragging his feet on beginning talks to find a compromise solution, and he called on Republicans to offer their plans to alter his measure.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday he and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are fully engaged with the White House on a debt deal and expressed optimism an agreement will be reached.Yeah, that doesn't inspire confidence. Obama's one-on-one interactions with the other GOP leader didn't pan out so well.
“I’ve spoken with the president and the vice president within the last hour and a half," McConnell said at a press conference with Boehner shortly after the House rejected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) debt ceiling plan.
"We are now fully engaged with the one person … who can sign a bill into law,” McConnell told reporters.
Ken Bazinet tweeted that Reid and Pelosi were "summoned" to the White House. (UPDATE @ 5:43 PM: The White House meeting is over. Via Roll Call's John Stanton:
The question is are we closer to agreement? The answer is no - sen. Reid on #debt deal)
Not sure what kind of game McConnell is playing, but let's hope he's not playing the President. The sad part is that it will probably easier for McConnell to get 13 Democrats to vote for his plan than it has been for Reid to get seven GOPers on board with him.
