Timeline: Congress' path to federal shutdown

Highlights of Congress' battle over the partial government shutdown and expiring federal borrowing authority:

Sept. 20: Republican-run House ignores White House veto threat, votes to keep government open through Dec. 15 but only if President Barack Obama agrees to halt money for his 2010 health care law.

Sept. 24-25: Tea party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other conservatives speak on Senate floor for more than 21 consecutive hours about using shutdown bill to weaken health care law.

Sept. 27: Democratic-led Senate removes House-approved provision defunding health care law, sends bill keeping agencies open through Nov. 15 back to House.

Sept. 29: House shifts demands on health care law, votes to delay implementation for a year and repeal tax on medical devices. Separately, House votes to pay troops in case of shutdown. Senate approves bill next day, Obama signs it into law.

Sept. 30: Senate rejects latest House provisions curbing health care law. House reworks shutdown bill again, delaying for a year health care law requirement that individuals buy health insurance and requiring members of Congress and staff to pay full expense of health insurance, without government paying part of costs. Senate kills latest House health care provisions.

Oct. 1: Government's new fiscal year begins, partial federal shutdown starts, around 800,000 workers furloughed.

Oct. 2: House approves first of more than a dozen bills restarting popular programs, reopening national parks and National Institutes of Health medical research. Over the next two weeks, Democrats mostly vote "no," saying entire government must reopen, and Senate ignores the measures. Obama meets with congressional leaders at White House, no progress reported.

Oct. 4: Republicans increasingly tie shutdown fight to need for Congress to renew federal borrowing authority by Oct. 17 or risk economy-rattling government default. Their demands also evolve to deficit reduction.

Oct. 5: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he is bringing most of his department's 350,000 furloughed workers back to work immediately.

Oct. 10: Boehner proposes six-week debt limit extension, conditioned on Obama bargaining over spending cuts and reopening government. House GOP leaders discuss standoff with Obama at White House without agreement. Congress gives final approval to bill providing death benefits for slain troops and Obama signs it.

Oct. 11: A bipartisan Senate group works on a measure that would reopen the government and prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its bills.

Oct. 12: Boehner tells House Republicans that negotiations with White House have stalled. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., begin talks.

Oct. 14: Reid and McConnell say they've made progress toward a deal extending debt limit and reopening government.

Oct. 15: House GOP effort to craft its own plan collapses after Boehner fails to gain enough Republican support for two alternatives that are more conservative than evolving Senate plan.

Oct. 16: Reid, McConnell announce deal on reopening government through Jan. 15, extending debt limit to Feb. 7. Congress plans votes later in day.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/timeline-congress-path-federal-shutdown-194000519.html
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