Live updates: The Shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just spoke on the Senate floor, saying there will be no more votes tonight, and that “perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day.”

Sounding optimistic, he said that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have made “tremendous progress” toward a deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, “but we are not there yet.”

“Everyone just needs to be patient,” Reid added. “And we hope, with good fortune, and the support of all of you, recognizing how hard this is for everybody, that perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day.”

McConnell echoed Reid’s remarks.

“We’ve had a good day. Had a good day yesterday. Had another good day today. I think it’s safe to say we’ve made substantial progress and we look forward to making more progress in the near future.”

Fourteen days into the government shutdown, polling analyst Scott Clement tracks the trends from the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. (In Play)

As the federal shutdown enters its third week, things remain unchanged for the District’s government and residents.

Government employees are reporting to work on Tuesday, while workers will receive their paychecks as usual on the normal schedule. But there’s no guarantee yet about the Oct. 29 paychecks or if they will arrive on time.

In addition, there are issues about the District’s reserve funds:

But there continue to be behind-the-scenes talks about tapping other pots of reserve money, which could fund at least one more round of payroll as well as other crucial payments that are expected to come due in the next days and weeks.

The reserve funds in question — the “Cash Flow Reserve” and “Fiscal Stabilization Reserve” — are mandated by District law and together contain roughly $400 million. City officials familiar with the talks but not authorized to speak publicly say there is general agreement that at least some of those funds can be used to backfill the Contingency Cash Reserve Fund that is now being used with the full blessing of government attorneys.

Head to District of DeBonis for more.

The Senate Conservatives Fund slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for trying to hash out a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

“Now Mitch McConnell is working with Harry Reid on a plan to fund Obamacare and raise the debt limit,” said SCF executive director Matt Hoskins. “Not only will his plan force Americans to pay for a law they oppose, it will force them to borrow more money to do it.”

SCF released an ad last month hitting McConnell for not doing more to fight the Affordable Care Act. The group is weighing whether to support McConnell’s primary challenger, businessman Matt Bevin.

President Obama will sit for interviews with three local television anchors on Tuesday, the White House announced.

Obama will talk about “how the government shutdown has affected their communities and how an economic shutdown would be even worse,” the White House said.

The White House didn’t immediately announce which anchors the president will be speaking with.

The Post’s Jim Tankersley expects financial markets to fluctuate between now and Thursday, when the United States will reach its debt limit if Congress doesn’t act. And after that, he says, things will really get weird. Watch today’s full On Background.

Senate Republicans are now set to meet on Tuesday morning instead of later Monday, a senior GOP leadership aide confirms.

“We had several members who aren’t back yet,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

As the world waits to see if the government shutdown can come to a close (accompanied by a debt ceiling increase), one airline has unveiled a promotion tied to the legislative quagmire.

JetBlue Airways will let any passenger with the name “Bill” flying out of an airport in the Washington area get through security faster. As Lori Aratani reports, this is JetBlue’s way of keeping — wait for it — “bills” moving through Washington.

The promotion, which will be available through Oct. 31, lets anyone named Bill (or William, or Will, or Billie, or Guillermo — you get the idea) get a pass that helps them find the quickest security screening lanes. It is available for any Billy or Willy flying out of Reagan National Airport, Dulles International Airport or Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Head to Dr. Gridlock for more.

Lady Liberty is once again welcoming visitors to her shores after New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the famed statue during the federal government shutdown. (AP)

In addition to reopening the government and extending the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority, the emerging Senate deal would also require additional safeguards to ensure that people who receive federal subsidies to purchase health insurance are in fact eligible to receive them.

In exchange, Democrats were seeking a delay of the so-called “belly button tax,” a tax on existing policies that is set to add roughly $63 per covered person — including spouses and dependents — to the cost of health insurance next year. Under the emerging agreement, the tax would be delayed to 2015, sparing organized labor as well as major employers.

Negotiators, meanwhile, rejected a proposal by Republicans to delay implementation of a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices, according to people familiar with the talks.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) huddled with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in McConnell’s office Monday afternoon, as Senate leaders were expressing increasing optimism about their odds of reaching an agreement to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to weigh in on the specifics of the meeting, saying only that the speaker “went to get an update on the discussions.”

And Boehner just left Sen McConnell’s office. He was in there for around 25 minutes.

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorpNBC) October 14, 2013

The longer budget talks stall, the less time President Obama has to tackle other items on his domestic agenda before his term is up. SiriusXM’s Julie Mason tells On Background why Obama’s legacy is at stake in the current negotiations. Watch today’s full On Background here.

Congressional Republicans don’t fare well in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Among the findings that stand out:

— Only 21 percent of Americans say they approve of the way Republicans in Congress are handling negotiations over the budget, while nearly three quarters (74 percent) disapprove. That’s an uptick in disapproval from 63 percent at the start of the shutdown.

—  President Obama and Democrats are doing better by comparison, but they are still not doing very well. Obama’s approval/disapproval split is now 42 percent/53 percent.

— Republicans are split over the job GOP lawmakers are doing. Forty-nine percent of self-identified Republicans say they approve while 47 percent say they disapprove.

Read more about the poll on The Fix.

Buzzfeed Washington bureau chief John Stanton explained the “extraordinary” Republican maneuver that was the subject of Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s viral House floor exchange.

Watch Stanton’s full On Background segment here and read his Buzzfeed post on it here.

President Obama’s meeting with the top four congressional leaders has been postponed, the White House just announced.

“The President’s 3:00 pm meeting with the bipartisan leadership has been postponed to allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government,” the White House said.

(Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Here’s a quick primer on what you need to know about today’s movement in the ongoing talks over the government shutdown and debt ceiling.

1. The Harry and Mitch Show goes on. All eyes are still on the talks between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). They don’t have a deal yet. But the rhetoric they are using makes it sound like they are close. One framework under consideration, according to a Senate source, is a deal that would fund the government until Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit until Feb. 15.

2. White House huddle postponed. Reid and McConnell, along with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), had been scheduled to head to the White House for a 3 p.m. meeting with President Obama. But that meeting has been postponed to “allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution,” according to the White House.

3. A possible House backup plan. House Republicans are reportedly considering a fresh debt limit plan of their own if the McConnell/Reid talks don’t produce anything. But judging by the provisions floated for that potential package, it doesn’t sound like Senate Democrats would approve it.

Updated at 2:44 p.m.

Senate leaders were closing in on a deal Monday to raise the debt ceiling and reopen the government, with leaders of both parties expressing optimism that they will reach agreement soon.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he was “very optimistic” of reaching a deal soon, indicating as he opened the Senate floor for the day that he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were conducting “constructive, good faith” negotiations.

McConnell likewise said “discussions continue” and that he shared Reid’s “optimism that we’re going to get a result.”

One framework under consideration, according to a Senate source, was a deal that would fund federal agencies until Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit until Feb. 15.

The proposal would meet a Democratic demand that budget talks take place before a new round of sequestration cuts takes effect in January. Not yet settled between the sides is whether it would address a tax on medical devices.

Republicans are pushing for a delay or elimination of the tax but Democrats have resisted, citing their long held position of not making concessions in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

Reid and McConnell met multiple times Monday to discuss that proposal, which would require the two sides to open negotiations over a broader budget plan in coming months.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Monday afternoon he thinks senators are close to a compromise on a package to reopen the government and raise the debt limit.

“I think the outlines of a deal are there,” Corker told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. He added that he thinks “there will be something on the Senate floor in the next 24 hours.”

At 1:35 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) walked across the hall to the office of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Asked if a deal had been struck, he said “not yet.” Asked if a deal was close, he said, “I hope so.”

Moments later McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told reporters that the leaders were “engaged in good faith negotiations and those talks will continue.” He said the leaders would provide an update at 2 p.m. on the Senate floor.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who is a member of a bipartisan group working to craft a compromise to raise the debt ceiling and reopen the government, says the senators “are feeling good” about the discussions they’ve had.

“There are some very productive discussions going on,” Klobuchar told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. The Democrat is part of a group led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) working toward a compromise.

Klobuchar added, “We’re feeling good about this,” or at least as good as lawmakers can feel with the government shuttered and the debt ceiling deadline looming.

As a small group of Democratic negotiators left the office of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday afternoon, Klobuchar told reporters that the negotiations were “very productive” but could not say whether the current proposal was something House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) could accept.

“One thing at a time,” she said.

Updated at 2:20 p.m.

President Obama said there has been “progress” in the Senate toward resolving the impasse over the government shutdown and debt ceiling, but warned once again of the threat of default if a deal isn’t reached. The Associated Press:

Obama is sounding an optimistic note saying there has been progress in the Senate toward resolving a standoff over the nation’s debt and the partial government shutdown. But he cautions that if Republicans don’t cooperate, “we stand a good chance of defaulting.”

Obama’s remarks came as the Senate’s Republican and Democratic leaders were holding talks in hope of finding an agreement. Obama invited the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate to the White House Monday afternoon.

“There has been some progress on the Senate side, with Republicans recognizing it’s not tenable, it’s not smart, it’s not good for the American people to let America default,” he said while visiting a Washington D.C., charity that has retained furloughed government workers as volunteers. “We’ll see this afternoon whether this progress is real.”

Obama called the government shutdown “completely unnecessary.” The problem, Obama said, “is that we’ve seen this brinkmanship as a strategy time and time again.”

Obama was speaking at the community nonprofit Martha’s Table, where he met with furloughed federal workers who were volunteering there.

Over on Post Politics, Zachary A. Goldfarb explains where lawmakers are at odds, what’s in the Collins plan everyone is talking about, and more on the standoff over the budget and debt ceiling. Here’s a sampling of his primer:

What are they fighting over?

At a basic level, they are just trying to find a way for the government to open and to raise the debt ceiling. To do so, Republicans say they need something to save face. Democrats don’t want to make it seem like they are giving in too much.

For D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, the shutdown has just been part of a month that has boosted his profile and seemingly changed the way he is perceived:

Nearly three years into a scandal-plagued tenure that at times has seemed destined to end after one term or in a resignation, the shutdown has capped an extraordinary month that has left Gray walking taller than he has since he became mayor.

Just weeks before he must decide whether he will run again, Gray is undeniably invigorated by recent events: A victory in his effort to lure Wal-Mart to the District, the national profile he garnered while consoling a grieving city after the Navy Yard shootings, and now, in the shutdown, a pulpit from which to rail against federal oversight of the District.

Gray may be the only winner so far in the federal shutdown, owing to his increasingly vocal criticisms of the impasse and what it means for the District. And it has shifted the standing of someone who, just three months ago, was the looming question mark over D.C. politics.

Head here for more.

The Fix takes a closer look at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who has led the charge to shred teh Affordable Care Act in the short-term budget talks. Even though Cruz’s negatives have shot up in recent weeks, reflecting a weaker national standing, Chris Cillizza argues that what’s more relevant is the fact that the fiery freshman has increased his strength on the political right (Cruz easily won a weekend presidential straw poll at a conservative confab):

Consider this for a minute: What if you told Marco Rubio, Chris Christie or Rand Paul that you could increase their chances of winning the Republican nomination but, in so doing, you would lessen their chances of being elected president in the general election? Don’t you think all three of them — plus any other candidate mentioned as a potential 2016-er — would take that deal? We do.

That’s exactly what Cruz has done over the past month or so. No one — not even those who hate Cruz — can doubt that he has emerged as the face of the uncompromising Republican opposition to President Obama (and his health care law) since talk of the shutdown and raising the debt ceiling began.

After meeting for about 40 minutes with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in McConnell’s office, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters the two were making progress but did not yet have a deal.

“We are working on everything,” he said, adding, “We talked yesterday as everyone knows … and we’re continuing to work on it — it’s not done yet.”

Asked if he hoped the would have something to take to the White House at 3 p.m., Reid said, “Sure hope so.”

As the two leaders met, several Democratic senators involved in a bipartisan negotiating group were seen walking into Reid’s office.

Updated at 12:44 p.m.

President Obama is at Martha’s Table, a Logan Circle-area nonprofit that helps low-income children and families. He’ll be meeting there with furloughed federal workers who have been helping out, according to a White House pool report.

At Martha’s Table, Pres Obama to meet with furloughed Federal workers helping out at the food bank.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 14, 2013

Reports indicate that House Republicans are thinking about advancing their own debt limit package, should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fail to reach a deal.

The bill could include several components conservatives would want. Politico:

Attaching the so-called Vitter amendment to the debt-limit increase is one option, according to House GOP sources. That provision would end health-insurance subsidies for members of Congress, their aides and other federal government employees. Another option is delaying or repealing the medical device tax. Reid and Senate Democrats have opposed both proposals so far, but with the debt limit clock ticking, House Republicans may have more leverage now.

National Review’s Robert Costa:

package (so far): 6-wk DL ext, Lankford bill on shutdowns, income verification for O’care applicants, Vitter amdt

— Robert Costa (@robertcostaNRO) October 13, 2013

The Lankford bill Costa is referring to is the “Government Shutdown Prevention Act.” It would automatically trigger stopgap spending bills every time lawmakers miss deadlines to fund the government (as they did on Oct. 1). Funding in the automatic bill would be reduced at intervals.

“After the first 120 days, auto-CR funding would be reduced by one percentage point and would continue to be reduced by that margin every 90 days,” said the office of Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), in a news release.

Of course, even if the House were to introduce a measure to raise the debt limit with any of the provisions discussed above, it would likely face a tough time clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate.

A bipartisan group of senators organized by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) met for two hours Monday morning, as talks intensify in the Senate over ways to end the government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling.

After briefing Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about the talks Monday morning, Collins said the group was making progress — but that the focus must remain on talks between McConnell and Sen. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).

“We continue to discuss the parameters of an agreement,” she said. “But there really is a focus on the leadership right now.”

The group’s Democratic members are scheduled to brief Reid on their progress soon.

There had been hope late Friday that the Senate was coalescing around a proposal the group had written, which would have raised the debt ceiling until Jan. 31 and funded federal agencies through March.

But Reid balked at the proposal, seeking a longer time frame for the debt ceiling and a shorter spending bill, ensuring Congress would negotiate budget issues before a new round of sequestration cuts hit in January.

The Democratic members of the group issued a statement late Sunday that they no longer backed the Friday proposal — but said that negotiations continued.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the group spent time Monday discussing the timelines that had bothered Reid.

“We’re on dates and times. We’re working on specifics,” he said, declining to name them.

“We continue to have negotiations, and I think we’re making progress in those negotiations,” he said. “We have outlines of where we think we still have some differences.”

President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with the top-ranking House and Senate leaders in both parties this afternoon at 3 p.m., a White House official said.

Obama will huddle at the White House with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“With only a few days until the government runs out of borrowing authority, the President will make clear the need for Congress to act to pay our bills, and reopen the government,” the official said. “The President will also reiterate our principles to the leaders: we will not pay a ransom for Congress reopening the government and raising the debt limit.”

The D.C. Lottery is the latest local victim of the government shutdown.

As Mike DeBonis reported, the lottery announced last week that while tickets will still be sold, they will not cash any winning lottery tickets until further notice. Winning tickets can be redeemed after the shutdown ends, but payouts are on hold until that time. 

With the federal court system halted during the shutdown, immigration court proceedings have largely been postponed, along with civil cases. (Associated Press)

Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are out with a new national TV ad campaign urging lawmakers to work together to address the nation’s debt.

“For crying out loud, Erskine, who isn’t fed up with what’s going on in Washington?” Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming asks in the ad.

“Al, it’s going to take some real political courage for folks to start working together. And it’s going to take a push from all of you out there,” says Bowles, who served as White House chief of staff to Bill Clinton.

Together, Bowles and Simpson co-founded “Fix the Debt,” which is the group behind the ad. In 2011, the two famously co-chaired a bipartisan commission tasked with addressing the debt in the wake of congressional inaction. The group fell short of reaching agreement on a proposal.

Financial markets had soared late last week when word of a possible agreement got out, but retraced much of those gains Monday as the outlook for a deal became much fuzzier.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 0.5 percent at 10:30 a.m., a sell-off driven by greater uncertainty as to what will happen next, which was roughly matched with a 70 point decline in the Dow Jones industrial average.

In a more telling sign of market sentiment, the Vix, a measure of expected future volatility in stock markets, soared 12.4 percent to their highest level since Wednesday.

Bond markets were closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday, but in recent days investors have sold off short-term Treasury bills maturing later in October, fearful that there could be disruptions that prevent the government from making good on its obligations.

Former defense secretary Leon Panetta faulted both President Obama and Republicans for the budget standoff that has seized Washington.

“If leadership is not there, we govern by crisis,” said Panetta at a breakfast sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.

He added, “You have to engage in the process. This is a town where it’s not enough to feel you have the answers. You have to roll up your sleeves … That’s what’s lacking, and it is lacking on all sides.”

So what’s the solution? A budget conference, said Panetta.

“The real governing aspect of this has to take place in a room, in a conference where they are negotiating on the budget,” Panetta said, adding that a big deal is not going to be reached by “some razzle-dazzle supercommittee or a group of muckety-mucks from the outside world.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) sounded an optimistic note that lawmakers would reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling by Thursday.

“There is a lot of concern about whether we’re going to meet this deadline, I think at the end of the day we will,” Corker said on NBC’s “Today.” “But to do so, we really have to move ahead today with a Senate agreement, and then the House has got to be open to focusing on those things that make our country stronger.”

The nation will exhaust its borrowing authority on Thursday, according to the Treasury.

Corker criticized the behavior of both Democrats and Republicans in the fiscal talks, charging that House Republicans “overreached” in taking on the health-care law, while Democrats have “overreached” on wanting to spend more.

The Republican National Committee released a round of robocalls charging congressional Democrats with “playing politics” with the shutdown.

“They are playing politics by cutting off our veterans and their benefits,” says the call targeting Sens. Mark Begich (Alaska), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Kay Hagan (N.C.), as well as Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.). Begich, Landrieu and Hagan all hail from red states and face reelection in 2014.

The calls cite a measure House Republicans passed to ensure veterans benefits even during the shutdown. Since the shutdown started, the House GOP has passed piecemeal funding measures that Senate Democrats have largely rejected.

A version of the robocall also goes after Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.).

The Post’s Lori Montgomery and Rosalind S. Helderman report:

U.S. financial markets fell at the opening Monday, potentially sending a message to deadlocked Senate leaders about stalled budget negotiations in Washington with the debt ceiling deadline just three days away.

Stock markets opened at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 70 points in the first several minutes.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) offered this take on talks to end the shutdown, via Twitter:

Shutdown Day 14: A deal is as elusive as old Charlie on the MTA. “His fate is still unlearned.”

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) October 14, 2013

With talks stalled between House Republicans and the White House, the ball is currently in the court of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who are trying to hash out a deal to end the fiscal impasse.

The thing is, the two aren’t exactly chummy. The Post’s Paul Kane:

The deep animosity between Reid, 73, and McConnell, 71, went public this summer, when they clashed over Democratic efforts to amend filibuster rules. McConnell called Reid “the worst leader in the Senate ever,” and Reid accused McConnell of a “breach of faith” over an earlier agreement designed to smooth the confirmation process for judicial and executive branch nominees.

Their daily clashes became so heated that rank-and-file senators requested a rare bipartisan caucus, which led to a highly unusual marathon meeting of almost all 100 senators in the Old Senate Chamber and a bipartisan pact that averted what Reid had threatened: a unilateral, party-line vote to change the filibuster rules.

The Fix explains the difference between the McConnell-Reid relationship, and the Republican’s rapport with Vice President Biden, with whom he struck the deal to avert the fiscal cliff:

Politics — particularly when the stakes are this high — is a personal business, and trust is at the core of any deal.  It’s why McConnell and Vice President Biden were able to negotiate a fiscal cliff deal when no one else could. The two men aren’t even close to ideological allies, but they trusted each other at some basic level. That’s what matters. And that’s what Reid and McConnell seem to lack.

So far there have been no breakthroughs. (The two spoke by phone Sunday, but there’s no deal yet.) With other channels leading nowhere, a whole lot appears to be resting on the Reid-McConnell talks.

The government shutdown that started nearly three weeks ago has cost the National Park Service nearly half a million dollars in entrance fees and tens of millions of dollars in visitor spending each day, according to a group representing the agency’s retirees.

The Coalition of National Park Service retirees estimated that the park system has missed out on about 715,000 visitors daily, based on October 2012 attendance numbers, according to a statement last week from the organization.

(Read the complete story.)

The ghosts of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) grace the cover of this week’s New Yorker magazine:

Mark Ulriksen, the artist who designed the cover, had this to say: “Boehner and Cruz — these politicians are only after the perpetuation of their own power. There are spider webs growing in the Capitol, bats haunting it, and all this legislation that’s just dying because these guys can’t do anything. The main sign of life is that black cat. If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be worth laughing at.”