U.S. Senate Majority Leader from Nevada Harry Reid tells the media that the Senate will pass the House's two-week budget extension in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, on 01 March 2011. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
Republican Representative from Arkansas Tim Griffin (R), followed by reporters and other freshman Republicans, walks to a press conference where he threw his support to Speaker Boehner's budget bill during outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 28 July, 2011. The House was expected to vote on Boehner's budget plan on 28 July. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
US President Barack Obama shakes the hands of tourists visiting the Lincoln Memorial during a surprise visit a day after budget negotiations with Congress prevented a government shutdown in Washington, DC, USA on 09 April, 2011. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
US Republican Representative from Kentucky, Rand Paul, says he is considering a filibuster to block the budget agreement that would fund the government for the remainder of this fiscal year, in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, USA on 13 April, 2011. Such a move would be a blow to Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
U.S. Republican Speaker of the House from Ohio, John Boehner, looks at the media after commenting Representative Ryan's FY2012 budget proposal following a Republican caucus in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, on 15 April 2011. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
Republican Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul (R) chats with Republican Representative from Texas Louie Gohmert (C) before holding a press conference where they claimed Speaker Boehner does not have the votes to pass his budget plan in the U.S. Captiol in Washington, DC, USA, on 26 July, 2011. Jordan and other far-right Republicans oppose the latest budget proposal from Boehner, saying it does not cut spending enough. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
The Republican House Majority Leader from Virginia Eric Cantor holds up a sign quoting President Barack Obama as saying "...you don't raise taxes in a recession" while discussing the differences between his and President Obama's debt reduction plan at a "pen and pad" briefing in his office in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA on 11 July, 2011. Cantor's objections to not rolling back the Bush-era tax cuts is bucking President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner's attempt to push a larger, $4 trillion deficit reduction plan. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
Republican Representative from Wisconsin Paul Ryan (R) leaves a Budget Committee office shortly before the U.S. House Budget Committee's markup hearing of the FY2012 budget resolution in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA on 06 April, 2011. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
US Republican House Speaker from Ohio John Boehner speaks to the media after strategizing with other House Republicans on the Federal Budget, which is set to expire Friday at midnight, in Washington, DC, USA on 06 April 2011. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
Reporters follow Republican Speaker of the House from Ohio John Boehner down the hall after he met with Republican leadership on budget negotiations in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, on 27 July, 2011. Democrats and Republicans are racing to create rival budget backup plans, a departure from the grand bargain that Obama had been pushing. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO