WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate and House Democratic leaders had what two sources describe as an extremely heated meeting Thursday night about the spending bill. Once Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid figured out he did not have the votes to pass it, he and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin went to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to propose passing a five day resolution to keep the government running, and come back to the $410 billion spending bill next week.
The two Democratic sources say Pelosi reacted with “anger,” arguing that Democrats should instead adopt a “scorched earth” strategy and simply fund the government at last year’s levels through the end of the year. Her point, according to the sources, was that even though Republicans have been slamming the bill as wasteful spending, many of them really have an interest in seeing it passed. This would call their bluff.
One of the sources says Reid and Durbin pushed back, saying the bill increases funding for a lot of Democratic priorities slashed by President Bush, and that it was worth another try. At the end of the tense meeting, Senate Democrats prevailed. - CNN
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