The Hill News

President Obama pressed Senate and House leaders Saturday on crafting a spending deal, the White House said, making phone calls in which Obama said “progress” was being made in the talks while still stating opposition to GOP policy riders.

Obama’s used calls to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to emphasize his view that a shutdown would harm the economy, according to a White House summary of the conversations.

The calls highlight the urgency of talks over reaching a fiscal year 2011 federal spending deal as the clock ticks down toward a government shutdown next week if negotiations collapse. The current stopgap federal spending plan expires April 8.

“The President made clear that we all understand the need to cut spending, and highlighted the progress that has been made to agree to all work off the same number â€" $73 billion in spending cuts in this year alone,” the White House said in its sum! mary of the calls.

The sides appear to be closing in on a deal that would slash $33 billion from current spending â€" the $73 billion is a comparison to the White House fiscal year 2011 budget proposal that was not enacted.

“The President said that he has instructed his team to continue to work hard over the weekend with the appropriators to help reach resolution on the composition of those cuts, and reiterated our opposition to cuts that will undermine our economic growth, job creation, and our ability to win the future,” the White House said.

“He also made clear that we continue to oppose efforts to use this process to further an ideological agenda on issues that have nothing at all to do with reducing spending or reducing the deficit,” the statement added. The White House and Democrats are pushing back against provisions â€" called riders â€" in the House GOP’s spending plan that would block federal funding for Planned Parenthood, EPA pollutio! n rules and other policies.



“The President highl! ighted t he progress that has been made but made clear that this process is running short on time, and he urged both sides to reach a final solution and avoid a government shutdown that would be harmful to our economic recovery,” the White House said.