Senate

Registering irritation late Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would hold the Senate open while waiting to see whether or not the House manages to hold a vote on Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) deficit-reduction plan.

House Republican leadership postponed the vote indefinitely earlier in afternoon as they scrambled to whip together enough votes for it to clear the lower chamber.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said he believes Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will successfully whip the necessary votes to pass his deficit-reduction plan. 

“Speaker Boehner's having a rough time getting the votes over there but my guess is he will,” said Schumer.

Schumer reminded his colleagues that regardless of its outcome in the House, the legislation has no chance of clearing the Senate in a vote tentatively scheduled for later tonight.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) on Thursday mispronounced the name of Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) while attacking his deficit-reduction plan from the Senate floor.

The senator from New Jersey used an 'O' sound in the Speaker's last name, as opposed to the correct 'A' sound.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Boehner’s bill will be defeated Thursday night in the Senate. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday that if the House passes Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) deficit-reduction plan later in the day the Senate will immediately take it up for consideration.

“As soon as the House completes its vote this afternoon, the Senate will take up that message they send to us,” said Reid.

Reid predicted the bill’s defeat in the Senate. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was shocked by letter issued by the entire Senate Democratic Conference on Wednesday night expressing its opposition to Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) deficit-reduction plan.

"I was shocked last night when 53 Senate Democrats issued a letter saying that they intend to vote against the only piece of legislation that has any chance of preventing all this from happening," said McConnell, referring to a scenario in which the nation defaulted on its debt. 

McConnell was citing a letter issued by all 53 members of the Senate Democratic Conference to Boehner on Wednesday night in which they promised to vote down his debt-ceiling plan if it reaches the Senate. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continued his criticism of House Tea Party conservatives on Thursday, blaming them for an impasse in negotiations to raise the nation's debt ceiling. 

"A small group of radical Republicans who don't represent mainstream America ... have refused to move one inch toward compromise," Reid said. 

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has proposed that the government continue paying the nearly 4,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers who have been furloughed since Saturday.

Rockefeller and 12 other Senate Democrats introduced S. 1433, which would allow payment of salaries and benefits for the FAA workers. Under the bill, amounts now in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund could be used to pay them.

In a floor speech Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) accused Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) of marching out of debt-ceiling negotiations with a “teddy bear” and “Republican blanket.”

“President Obama says let’s all come together and let’s work on a plan,” said Boxer, recounting her version of the narrative of the debt negotiations so far. “Let’s do something big. Let’s do something real.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Wednesday suggested that all members of Congress should "get fired” if members do not manage to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline.

“I hope and pray that we will find the path through in these next five days, that we won’t do the unthinkable,” said Warner, speaking of a scenario in which the debt ceiling is not raised and the nation is allowed to default on its debt obligations.