15 hours and counting: No word of a budget deal

By 9:15 a.m. Friday, there was no sign of a budget agreement, and no announced plans in the House or Senate to consider a fiscal 2011 budget bill.

But there were some signs last night that Republicans and Democrats might yet find some solution. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said they "narrowed the issues significantly."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the two sides have essentially agreed on how much more spending to cut, but that Republicans in particular are unwilling to admit this for fear of a backlash from the more conservative members of their caucus.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated on Friday morning that some elements of a deal have been worked out, but not every aspect.

"While nothing will be decided until everything is decided, the largest issue is still spending cuts," Michael Steel said. "The American people want to cut spending to help the private sector create jobs — and the Democrats that run Washington don't."

While Democrats continued to argue that Republican policy riders are a big reason they cannot agree to the one-week spending plan approved yesterday, Republicans argued that the bill, H.R. 1363, does not include language limiting the Environmental Protection Agency or banning funding for Planned Parenthood.

"The only two riders [in] the Republican stopgap measure are a provision banning funding to move Gitmo detainees to U.S. soil and a ban on taxpayer funding of abortion in the District of Columbia," according to a Thursday statement from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

The House returns at 10 a.m., the Senate at 11.