Reid clashes with Boehner, accuses House GOP of 'sitting on their posterior'

By Alexander Bolton - 02/26/13 03:58 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pushed back Tuesday against an accusation from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that the Senate needs to “get off their ass” and address the sequester.

Reid said House Republicans are the ones guilty of “sitting on their posterior” and challenged Boehner to pass legislation.

“I think he should understand who is sitting on their posterior,” Reid said. “We’re doing our best here to pass something. The speaker is doing nothing to try to pass anything over there.”

Boehner argues the House does not need to act because it passed two proposals to replace the sequester in the last Congress.

But Reid noted legislation passed last year is no longer valid in the 113th Congress.

“We have something called the Constitution that [requires] you have to start over again every two years,” Reid said. “The reason he’s not bringing up something over there is he can’t pass it. He can’t get his caucus to agree on anything.”

“So I ask the Republican Speaker, ‘Where’s your bill? You can’t rely on what happened last Congress. Where’s your plan? You can’t rely on what happened last Congress.’ ”

Reid said the House Republican strategy is to “sit on the sidelines instead of working with us to pass something."

He noted that 174 House Republicans voted for the sequester and they share the responsibility for stopping its impact on the economy.

Congress has until Friday to stop $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts that will hit domestic discretionary and defense programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the sequester could cost 750,000 jobs this year.