The US House of Representatives has postponed a procedural vote on a short-term funding deal that would end the partial government shutdown and avoid a possible debt default.
The vote was due to take place on Tuesday, but was held off until the afternoon after Democrats raised concerns that the proposed deal would not fully address the issues at hand. The delay is a sign that Republican leaders are struggling to gain enough support from their own ranks to move forward with the temporary measure.
Speaker of the House John Boehner has been pushing for a measure that would extend government funding through mid-December, increase the nation’s debt limit through February 2015, and include a repeal of the medical device tax in Obamacare. Democrats, however, have been pushing for a clean bill that would simply pass a short-term budget extension and raise the debt ceiling without adding any additional policy provisions.
Republican leaders remain hopeful that a deal can still be reached before the nation reaches the deadline on Thursday (October 17th) to raise the debt ceiling, though it is unclear what kind of agreement will ultimately be reached.
