GOP may put Dems in hot seat on shutdown

WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- Fiscal conservatives in the U.S. House are considering ways to pressure Democrats if another short-term government funding bill is needed, aides said.

While Republicans would prefer to pass a budget steeped in $61 billion in cuts for the remainder of the current fiscal year, they have approved two stop-gap measures, the latest of which expires April 8, that reduce the deficit some but not as much as conservatives would like.

House GOP leaders -- wary of causing a government shutdown -- are considering "ratcheting up" demands in future short-term spending bills by including amendments that defund Democratic priorities such as healthcare reform, The Hill reported Friday.

A House GOP aide said "it is a possibility" Republicans will increase their demands to try to shift the onus onto Democrats to keep government operating.

"People are very restless, impatient with the process," House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said recently. "I am not sure we can pass another short-term extension."

Keith Hennessey, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, suggested Republicans raise the base level of spending cuts from $2 billion to $3 billion per week and that House Republicans attach a policy rider.

"There appeared to be a building consensus to get to spending cuts, which was to take short-term [continuing resolutions] off the table and limit it to two options, which is a long-term deal or a shutdown," Hennessey told The Hill.

Thomas Schatz, president of non-partisan Citizens Against Government Waste, said Republicans may want to consider less controversial riders first if they take that tack.

"It makes sense to test whether not the Senate is going to go along with some of these," Schatz said. "They should find a half dozen or so that would be obvious to taxpayers, then you have established the precedent that the CR can include some riders."