Supercommittee members face rising pressure from all sides

Top congressional leaders intervened Tuesday in “supercommittee” talks about the national debt, as negotiators faced mounting pressure from both parties to back away from any deal that requires tax increases and cuts to cherished social programs.

With one week remaining before a Thanksgiving deadline, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) met briefly to discuss the panel’s deliberations. Aides described the 15-minute session as a “gut check” to determine whether the parties can reach an accord to slice at least $1.2 trillion from projected borrowing over the next decade.

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If Congress can’t come up with a way to cut $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, the Budget Act will do it for them unless some sort of postponement is worked out. A look at the deadlines that must be met and what happens if they’re not.

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Despite intense talks last week, there has been little indication of progress by a bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to reduce the nation's debt. The principal stumbling blocks revolve around taxes and large federal entitlement programs. (Nov. 14)

But there was no sign of progress.

And in an evening interview on CNBC, Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), the panel’s House co-chairman, said that the group’s Republican members have “gone as far as we feel we can go” on the key issue of taxes.

Democrats quickly pounced on the implication that Republicans were backing away from the bargaining table.

“It looks like these guys are giving up and throwing in the towel,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), who has been at the center of the negotiations. The latest GOP offer “does not meet the test of a balanced approach,” he added.

In recent days, talks have focused on a tax package of as much as $650 billion over the next decade, with $100 billion in upfront tax increases on various business interests and $550 billion to come later through an overhaul of the tax code, according to sources in both parties with knowledge of the discussions.

But on Tuesday, it was unclear whether either side could make those numbers work. Such a deal probably would require far deeper cuts to entitlements than most Democrats have been willing to stomach. Meanwhile, some Republicans are drawing a hard line at the $300 billion in new taxes in the most recent GOP offer.

By early evening, Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and their top policy aides had all left the Capitol, a stark contrast from the round-the-clock negotiations that marked the summer negotiations.

Reid told reporters earlier in the day that he had hoped that by now “there would be a lot of hand-holding and hugs and pats on the back and we’d be headed home for Thanksgiving.”

Instead, the talks have included “a few armlocks” and “headlocks,” Reid said, adding: “I hope we can get this done.”

While Democrats and Republicans on the supercommittee huddled separately Tuesday, the clamor against a bipartisan deal continued to grow.

The process remains stymied by the same issues that killed the chance of major compromise during the summer debt-ceiling debate.

Some conservatives in the Republican House majority said they could not support the latest GOP offer to raise taxes by as much as $300 billion over the next decade as part of a broader deal to cut spending. The offer marked the first time Republicans other than Boehner have proposed raising taxes above current levels.

Liberal lawmakers and progressive groups have been equally dismayed by the prospect that Democrats on the supercommittee may be willing to accept sharp cuts in domestic programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, in exchange for a relatively minor increase in taxes.