http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/325195-obama-to-give-statement-amid-spending-showdownObama to address press amid spending showdown on Hill
By Justin Sink - 09/27/13 03:10 PM ET
President Obama will deliver a statement Friday afternoon amid a congressional showdown over ObamaCare that threatens to force a government shutdown next wee.
The White House said Obama will speak at 3:30 p.m. Eastern remarks from the press briefing room, just hours after the Senate approved a stopgap spending measure that would keep the government open through Nov. 15.
The 55-44 party-line vote stripped out language from a similar bill that was already approved by the House that would have defunded the president's signature health care law.
The legislation will now return to the House, where congressional Republicans will have to decide how to precede. The president is expected to call on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to allow an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill.
But Boehner has already said the stripped-down bill would not reach the floor. Conservative members of the House have floated a proposal to attach a one-year delay of ObamaCare to the bill, which would then need to return to the Senate. Democrats say that measure would be rejected in the upper chamber, and the White House has vowed to veto any bill that delays or defunds the law.
If lawmakers can't strike an agreement before the end of the month, the government would shut down for all non-essential services. In addition to federal agencies, national parks, museums, and passport offices would all shutter.
On Friday, Sen. Harry Reid said House Republicans needed to vote for the so-called "clean" bill to avoid shutting down the government.
“I urge sensible Republicans in the House of Representatives to … let House Democrats vote,” he said. “Pass a clean bill to avert a shutdown. Defy the anarchists. Respect the rule of law. And help the Senate govern.”